Editor's Review

The tribunal cited electoral malpractices that allegedly took place in the 19th April 2022 nominations.

Nandi Hills Constituency MP Alfred Keter's win in the recently concluded UDA nominations in Nandi Hills Constituency has been nullified.

According to the UDA party's Electoral and nominations dispute resolution committee, Keter's win was canceled after his rival Bernard Kitur appealed against his nomination's results.

While canceling the results, the tribunal cited electoral malpractices that allegedly took place in the 19th April 2022 nominations.

This was after the incumbent MP Keter was declared the winner after garnering 10,363 votes against his closest rival Kitur who came second with 7,468 votes.

The matter has been referred to the party's National Elections Board for them to determine the way forward.

Kitur lodged his complaint with the party’s Electoral and Nomination Dispute Resolution Committee on Wednesday, April 20, just a day after Keter was declared the winner. In the appeal, Kitur was mentioned as the applicant, while Keter was the first respondent and UDA National Elections Board the second respondent.

{Alfred Keter after he was announced the UDA party winner in the just concluded nominations in Nandi Hills. Photo: Courtesy}

In his appeal, Kitur cited among other reasons, ballot stuffing incidences and delays in the transmission of results, something that the committee concurred with.

"We are satisfied that the allegations of ballot stuffing and delays in transmission have been proven. The same violates Articles10, 15(5), (6) of the Rules, Articles 29 and 30 of the Constitution; Rules 5,9, 19, 20, and other provisions of the party code of conduct, and contravenes sections 3, 10, 11 and 20 of the Election OffencesAct," read some of the committee's findings.

The nomination exercise for Nandi Hills was postponed from 14th April to 19th April following the death of one of the aspirants, Wesley Kogo, who died in a road accident in Kangemi Nairobi.

Others who took part in the nominations included Robert Chepkwony got 2,539 votes, George Tarus had 425 votes, Abraham Limo 540, and Irine Chemutai 388.

This comes at a time when Keter had complained to UDA after the party failed to issue him with the interim certificate after his win. Keter and his followers were forced to camp at the tallying centre in Samoei High School in Nandi Hills demanding that their candidate be issued the certificate.

The drama ensued when Keter was called upon to the front to be congratulated. But unlike in other nominations, the interim nomination certificate was missing. However, after hours of the standoff, the officials issued him with an unsigned certificate which he picked and left the station.