Registrar’s dilemma over huge list of independent candidates
The country is staring at a record number of independent aspirants in this year’s General Election as most losers in the just-concluded nominations are stampeding to the Registrar of Political Parties to be set free to run without any affiliation to any outfit.
Registrar Ann Nderitu (pictured) yesterday told People Daily that they have received over 5, 400 applications, which her office must work on before the May 2 deadline. “We have over 5, 400 applications. We will be working throughout the holiday to clear them,” she said.
Of the number, the majority of the applicants are for the MCA seats that have attracted more than 4, 000 applications while for MP seats there are over 800 requests.
The number has risen significantly as the deadline nears. Last week, the Registrar said she had received 3,000 requests. Nderitu said the applicants must submit their requests either online or in person although a portal has been established to make it easier for them to apply.
They are also required to submit at least five symbols from which one will be picked to accompany their names if cleared to run.
“We have so many applications so we have asked them to submit five symbols to increase the chances of having one picked,” she added.
Registrar also explained that it takes them two days to look at the applications and clear them or otherwise.
Aspirants have until next week Tuesday to submit their letter of intent and clearance from her office.
The parties mostly affected by the defection are United Democratic Alliance and the Orange Democratic Movement that held nominations that have led to major fallouts.
“To effectively attain this function, the Office of Registrar of Political Parties has developed a web-based online platform accessible through https://ippms.orpp.or.ke for submission of clearance requests,” said Nderitu.
Under the online registration, the key features include user registration, digital or online invoicing, online payment through MPESA, short message service and interim clearance certificate on processing.
