Dozens of presidential candidates had expressed their bids to battle it out with 2022 presidential front runners William Ruto and Raila Odinga in the August 9, elections.
The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has been meeting with the presidential aspirants for clearance to ensure they appear on the ballot.
Apart from having a degree from a recognized institution, anyone seeking to vie for the presidency was to submit at least 48,000 voters’ signatures from at least 24 counties across the country, something that most of the hopefuls failed to pass.
For instant, all independent presidential candidates have been disqualified by IEBC giving a clear indication of the strict regulations and policies implemented by the agency.
On Monday, June 6, presidential aspirant Muthiora Kariara became the latest candidate to be rejected by the commission.
He was the last candidate to have his application rejected after failing to pass the IEBC test.
IEBC chairperson Wafula Chebukati said the candidate submitted “a bundle of copies of ID cards for unspecified counties”.
However, he was given a second chance to look for the deficit of the signatures from five counties within an hour.
Despite the rush to meet the IEBC timeline, the sweaty Muthiora was turned down after failing to meet a rather high standard.
The disappointed aspirant then took a lighter from his pocket and set ablaze his voter’s card as the media and the IEBC team watched in silence.
As of Monday, June 6, only three presidential candidates William Ruto of UDA, Raila Odinga of Azimio la Umoja-One Kenya alliance party, and Roots of Kenya party leader George Wajakoyah had been cleared to vie for the presidency.
This was after the Safina party presidential flag bearer Jimmy Wanjigi was also blocked from vying while IEBC revoked former comedian Walter Mong’are’s clearance certificate over his questionable academic papers.
