The August 2022 presidential race has narrowed down to 16 presidential hopefuls after more than 30 out of the initial 55 hopefuls failed to fulfill the stringent requirements.
The stringent clearance requires that all presidential hopefuls must collect at least 2000 signatures or endorsements from at least 24 counties across the country, something that appeared an uphill task for the majority of the hopefuls.
Only 16 presidential aspirants beat the Wednesday, May 25, deadline for submitting signatures and copies of identity cards for clearance by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).
Only six out of the 16 hopefuls who met the stringent requirement are independent while the remaining 10 are sponsored by various political parties.
Some of the aspirants who missed the deadline said they found complying with the requirements expensive, highlighting the hidden cost of vying for president.
Among those who failed to beat the deadline include Gospel artist Reuben Kigame, Faith Wairimu, Grita Muthoni of Ford Asili party, and Dorothy Kemunto.
Those who beat the deadline include Azimio la Umoja-One Kenya alliance presidential flag bearer Raila Odinga and the 2022 presidential election front runner William Ruto as well as Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka
In a bid to ensure fairness, IEBC Chairman Wafula Chebukati said the commission does not restrict one person from supporting several presidential hopefuls so long the signatures cannot be copied for each other candidate in the same order.
“Ours is to ensure our process meets the fairness and reasonability test as provided or under Article 24 of the Constitution so as not to unlawfully and unjustifiably restrict or limit the right of candidates to exercise their political rights,” Chebukati said.
The successful aspirants at this stage of the process now wait for the IEBC to verify that the signatures presented to it match the IDs before allowing the aspirants to proceed to the next stage in their quest for the country’s leadership.
The Wafula Chebukati commission will now forward the names of the 16 hopefuls to institutions responsible for matters related to Chapter Six of the Constitution on leadership and integrity.
They include the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP).
