Nasa leaders finally decide on method for picking flag bearer

dennis kibet

March 22, 2017 10:18 AM

According to the elections law, presidential candidates have until April 15 to present their nomination papers to the IEBC.

The Nasa leaders in discussions before the signing of a pact agreement among themselves.

With less than five months towards the general elections, the National Super Alliance (Nasa) principals have finally agreed on the methodology of picking the alliance’s flagbearer.

The flag bearer will now be picked either through a consensus among the principals; ODM's party leader Raila Odinga, Wiper's Kalonzo Musyoka, Ford Kenya's Moses Wetangula and ANC's Musalia Mudavadi.

According to the elections law, presidential candidates have until April 15 to present their nomination papers to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).

The other option identified by the alliance is through a US-style electoral college-based system where members drawn out from various regions will vote for their preferred candidate.

However, Nasa has shelved the plans for primaries such as those normally used in the United States whereby parties conduct voting at different times across different regions in order to arrive with the best candidate.

With elections less than five months away, the primaries route was dropped due to the time and financial constraints that goes along with it.

The leaders in January named a coordinating committee made up of eleven members to spearhead the coalition’s operations as well as the process of picking a flag bearer and a running mate to face it off with Jubilee's President Uhuru Kenyatta and his Deputy William Ruto.

The committee is co-chaired by Senators James Orengo (ODM, Siaya), Johnson Muthama (Wiper, Machakos), MPs Sakwa Bunyasi (ANC, Nambale) and Eseli Simiyu (Ford Kenya, Tongaren).

The committee is also required to establish the rules for joint nominations for candidates in situations where circumstances so demand.

dennis kibet