Kiagu By-election in Meru County will be held on December 16, 2021, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has announced.
In a gazette notice on Wednesday, IEBC Chairman Wafula Chebukati said that the campaign period for purposes of the by-election shall commence on Monday, November 1, and cease on Monday, December 13, 48 hours before the by-election day.
The campaign time, the Commission said, shall run from 7 am to 6 pm during the campaign period.
The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) had been barred from holding the Kiagu Ward by-election scheduled for October 14, 2021, by the High Court.
This came after Moses Kuria’s Chama Cha Kazi (CCK) party filed a petition challenging the electoral body’s decision to bar its candidate from participating in the mini-election.
The court directed the Commission to resolve the standoff with CCK before holding the by-election in a ruling issued on Thursday.
Following a petition filed by United Democratic Alliance’s South Imenti Coordinator Salesio Mutuma Thuranira, the Commission barred Milton Mwenda from voting.
Milton failed to resign as a public officer within the legally mandated seven-day period following the declaration of the vacancy, according to the ruling issued on Thursday, September 23 by the IEBC’s Leadership and Integrity Vetting Committee.
CCK was given 72 hours to find a suitable replacement candidate.
The decision by the IEBC to bar the CCK candidate enraged Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria, who was preparing for a supremacy battle with Deputy President William Ruto’s United Democratic Alliance (UDA).
Kuria stated that the party was dissatisfied with the ruling and promised to challenge it in court.
“Today the IEBC has disqualified the Chama Cha Kazi candidate for Kiagu By-Election Milton Mwenda Kabobo following a petition by the South Imenti UDA Coordinator Salesio Mutuma Thuranira. The party has been asked to submit a replacement candidate. We are dissatisfied with this decision and we will move to the High Court first thing tomorrow morning to challenge this decision,” Kuria said in a brief statement published on social media.
On similar grounds, the IEBC barred Nathan Gitonga of the National Ordinary People Empowerment Union (Nopeu) from running in the by-election.
The IEBC’s decision to disqualify Chama Cha Kazi candidate Milton Mwenda from running in the Kiagu ward by-election in Meru County was overturned by the High Court on October 21, 2021
The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) was ordered to include Mwenda in the polls in a ruling issued on Thursday.
The following candidates were cleared to run in the by-election: Simon Kiambi Ngaruni (UDA), Haron Kaburu (Maendeleo Chap Chap party), Samson Magambo (Jubilee), Joseph Mwangi (Democratic Party), Patrick Kananda (Chama Cha Uzalendo), and Joshua Nabea (Ford Kenya), Scholastica Mwendwa (Party of Democratic Unity), Douglas Kirimi (Safina),
Eunice Karegi, who was elected on a Maendeleo Chap Chap (MCC) ticket, died, leaving the seat vacant.
