Winner Robert Mosota Denied Nomination Certificate
On Thursday, 17th January 2013, I won nomination for the Magwaga Ward in North Mugirango constituency, Nyamira County. Sadly, Mr. Elias Keton, the Returning Officer at Nyamira County headquarters, refused to issue me with a Nomination Certificate as per Rule 28 Section 28.2 of the Party Election and Nomination Rules.
After all the votes were cast on Thursday, 17th January 2013, they were counted at the North Mugirango Constituency Office located at Ekerenyo in the presence of all three candidates, that is myself Robert Mosota, Benta Nyaboke and Abel Mukaya Mose. According to the results that were announced at the scene by Returning Officer, Mr. Nickson Amaya, I got 1,288 votes, Benta got 1,127 votes while Abel got 677 votes (see attached from my agents of votes cast at every polling station). I beat my closest opponent with 161 votes and all candidates accepted the results as the true reflection of the will of ODM members in Magwagwa ward. Subsequently, I was declared the winner by the Returning Officer, Mr. Nickson Amaya at Ekerenyo. To confirm my victory, Mr. Amaya issued me with a hand-written note at the scene as evidence that I had won the nomination.
The note read in part: “I hereby commit to have presided over a nomination done by ODM party that elected Robert Mosota Atei to vie for county representative position on ODM ticket after being voted in by a majority of one thousand one hundred and ninety seven (1,197votes)”. The announcement was made in the presence of Stephen M. Nyakeriga, the Chairman of ODM, Nyamira County while several other supporters were also physically present. After the announcement, I was instructed to travel to Nyamira as soon as possible to be issued with my Nomination Certificate. There were no disputes as myself and my supporters started celebrating the sweet victory.
On the morning of Friday, January 18th 2013, I arrived with my supporters at Nyamira County. It is here that Mr. Elias Keton, who was in charge of issuing the certificates, refused to issue me with my Nomination Certificate and instead said that it is Benta Nyaboke who had won the nomination. Both I and my supporters alike were shocked beyond belief. When I tried to protest against the theft of my victory in broad day light, Keton refused to listen to us and instead, directed that I and my supporters be removed from the premises. We were subsequently chased away. Under the circumstances, I am demanding the following:
1. That the Party Headquarters not recognize Benta Nyaboke as the ODM candidate for Magwagwa Ward because I am the rightful winner of the nomination. Recognition of Myaboke will be a fraud that will lead to legal action.
2. That the Party Headquarters not forward the name of Benta Nyaboke to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) because I am the legitimate ODM nominee of Magwagwa ward who should contest the seat as per ODM’s Nomination rules.
3. That the matter be resolved expeditiously in view of its urgency.
I wish to underline the fact that the person who is directly responsible for the theft of my victory by virtue of having denied me my Nomination Certificate is Mr. Elias Keton. I believe that Keton is acting in cahoots with other conspirators in the background. I have already reported the matter to the ODM Office in Nairobi.
It will be a great disservice to the people of Magwagwa ward to be denied the opportunity of presenting the most popular candidate in the Party for county representative and it is for this reason that I together with my supporters, have decided to do what it takes to ensure that my victory is not stolen.
Robert Mosota Atei,
19th January 2013
robertmosotas(at)gmail.com
Tel: 0729991701
CC:
• The Kenyan and International Media
• Election Observer Groups
• ODM’s Office, Orange House
• ODM’s Office, Ekerenyo Branch
• ODM’s Office, Nyamira Branch
• ODM’s National Secretariat, Orange House, Nairobi
• The Independent and Electoral Boundaries Commission (IEBC)
• Registrar of Political Parties
• Dickson Amaya, Returning Officer, Ekerenyo
• Elias Keton, Returning Officer, Nyamira County
• Benta Nyaboke, Contestant for ODM Nomination, Magwagwa Ward
• Other interested Parties as may be necessary
About the Author
y do we denied our right?pliz ODM officer we need our rigth give has back certificate,Robert mosota Atei winne nomination if not we will difect immediately.
ODM officials flee as aspirants await certificates
Updated 1 hrs 45 mins ago
By Geoffrey Mosoku
NAIROBI, KENYA: The Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) on Sunday continued keeping hundreds of nominees waiting for the certificates.
Tension continued growing across the party strongholds even as anxious aspirants thronged the party headquarters to demand for their certificates.
For the third day in a row, the angry aspirants kept vigil at Orange House, which had been deserted by party officials who had fled earlier.
The aspirants with their supporters threatened to set the party headquarters ablaze after reports emerged that some of their colleagues may have been issued with the papers.
And moments later, the protestors whose patience seems to have run out uprooted the ODM signpost and lit bonfires while blocking the Menelik Road in Kilimani.
Among those at Orange House was Elisha Ochieng’ who claimed victory in the Gem constituency but said there were plans to award the looser, Jakoyo Midiwo, the nomination.
“The people of Gem had whipped the Chief Whip but it seem ODM wants to give Jakoyo the certificate,” Ochieng’ said.
The delay, according to the Aspirant had caused tension in Siaya where his supporters were staging protests.
“The people have spoken and their will must be respected,” he said at the Serena hotel where he had been told NEB chairman Frankilin Bett was.
Ochieng said that he had been frustrated looking for the certificate after he trounced Midiwo by over 5,000 votes.
“We have been moved from office to office but nothing is forthcoming, they have now told us that the papers have been sent to Siaya which we highly doubt,” he added.
Former ODM Director of Communications Ahmed Hash also left Orange house an angry man and convened a press conference at Nairobi West to express his dismay at what he termed as shenaniganism in the party headquarters.
“We are outraged and appalled by the way our party has conducted the nominations. Our team won in Langata/Karen and we must be given our certificate,” Hash said.
The aspirant said ODM had failed from day one of conducting the exercise and warned party chiefs to come out of hotel rooms and face the people.
“What we are opposed to is the pathetic failure by the party in allowing a free and fair process. Let the secretariat come out of their hiding in hotel rooms and meet the people to grant them their wishes,” Hash added.
Former Standard Journalist Beuttah Omanga was among those camping at Orange House after he clinched Bonyamatuta ward county representative unopposed in the ODM nominations.
By OTIENO OTIENO
Posted Saturday, January 19 2013 at 18:07
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Friday, January 18, 2013 is a day Prime Minister Raila Amolo Odinga may want to mark in his diary. It is the day Luo Nyanza woke up. National television beamed images of angry Karachuonyo youth tearing Mr Odinga’s campaign posters and chanting pro-TNA slogans.
A young man sensing that Mr William Oduol, the people’s choice for Siaya governor, might be short-changed in the ODM nominations in favour of Dr Oburu Oginga, the PM’s elder brother, warned on TV: “If Raila lets us down, we shall let him down.”
NTV reporter Larry Madowo, who has been covering the nominations in the county in the past three days, posted a telling tweet: “A mother just stopped me in Siaya town: ‘Bwana Larry, tell Raila Odinga that the fact that we’re poor does not mean we’re stupid.’”
Politicians passing themselves as close allies of the PM’s were voted out amidst an angry wave of anti-Odinga sentiment across the land. To make sense of these events, one has to consider the fact that until recently the picture would be very different. The Siaya man would be hero-worshipping Raila, the Karachuonyo crowd would be declaring its willingness to die for Raila, the Siaya mother would be singing Raila’s praises, and the politicians would only need to pass by a trading centre to deliver fake greetings from Raila to earn the party ticket.
Chances are that the PM will publicly dismiss Friday’s events as another storm in a tea cup. But privately he’ll be hurting and asking himself how it came to this. Well, he won’t have to look any further than himself and the people around him for an answer. The current rebellion is a culmination of a simmering resentment against an evolving Odinga hegemony and his patronising of Luo politics over the years. There is a growing perception that voters in Luo Nyanza don’t go to the polls to elect their leaders but to help Raila select his friends. It is not by accident that the ODM nominations were particularly flawed in the Luo Nyanza counties.
The informal power wielded by Mrs Ida Odinga, the PM’s wife, in ODM Elena Ceausescu-style has also alienated a section of party faithful. If the people had somehow come to tolerate the patronage as a small sacrifice for the party leader, their patience has lately worn thin in light of what they consider attempts by the Odingas to go for broke.
Word on the street is that in this election alone, at least five members of the Odinga family intended to run for various seats in Nairobi, Siaya and Kisumu.
For a man who partly owes his popularity to the notion that he is a political enigma, the PM’s high-profile role in the coalition government also served to remove the mystery.
Even among his most ardent supporters, there have to be some who look at him and think of the scandals at his office discussed in WikiLeaks and Miguna Miguna’s Peeling Back the Mask.
Returning officer succumbs to stab wound
Last updated on 21 Jan 21 2013 00:00
By Kenan Miruka
Homa Bay, Kenya: A presiding officer who was injured during Ford People primaries died and another kidnapped as he prepared to announce results of ODM polls in Homa Bay.
Isaac Obita Ong’era, a teacher at Omokonge Primary School succumbed to his injuries while undergoing treatment at Kisii Level Five Hospital on Saturday night.
The deceased sustained a stab wound on the stomach during a clash between supporters of Masige ward County Assembly Representatives Robert Momanyi and John Magembe over missing names on the voters roll.
“It is painful to lose the family’s sole bread winner through a senseless act. We are yet to come to terms with his demise,” said his younger brother Joseph Tamaro.
Kenya National Union of Teachers Gucha Branch Secretary Sammy Nyairo condemned the violent attack that led to the teacher’s death and called on police to ensure perpetrators are brought to book.
And in Homa Bay, Mr John Mulehi who was in the company of a fellow returning officer had just given the results to The Standard on the telephone when armed men walked into the hotel he was in.
Sources said the two officers were accosted by unknown men and forced into a waiting car before driving away.
The kidnappers in a convoy of seven cars left the premises as the police arrived.
A few minutes later, Mulehi called saying he wanted to change the results he had given on phone, saying the ODM headquarters had asked him to do so.
“Please, help me. Change the results that had been given on consensus to the following: Cyprian Awiti 52,294 and Philip Okundi 15,370 for the governor seat, Gladys Wanga 61,793 and Roselyne Onyuka 12,545 women representative seat. For Kasipul Kabondo, change to Oyugi Magwanga 7,620 and Tom Okoko 2,640,” he said.
Mulehi had earlier on indicated they agreed to have former Mbita MP Otieno Kajwang’ as the winner of the senate seat, Okundi (governor) and Onyuka (Women Representative).
“The party head office has allowed us to file the results,” Mulehi told our sister paper The Sunday Standard. Hillary Alila defected to PDP.
On Sunday, Migori OCPD Alfred Makoma said police had been dispatched to the hotel after being informed the results were to be announced in Rongo town.