Jayne Kihara Wins UDA Nominations By 1 Vote
The United Democratic Alliance (UDA) has rejected a nomination result in which Deputy President William Ruto's ally, Naivasha Member of Parliament Jane Kihara, lost to a former legislator.
Anthony Mutisya 
The matter was decided by the party's Electoral and Nomination Dispute Resolution Committee, according to a statement released by the party on April 18. (ENDRC).
Kihara received 9,904 votes, surpassing her nearest challenger John Kihagi by a single vote, according to the committee led by chairperson Emannuel Mumia. Kihagi received 9,903 votes, according to the team.
"The Committee finds that when the results from the aforementioned polling stations are added to the final tally, which the Committee has confirmed to be 9852 votes for Kihagi and 9824 votes for Kihara, the result is that Kihagi garnered 9,903 votes to Kihara's 9904 votes," determined the committee.
After losing to Kihagi in the nominations on April 14, the outspoken critic of President Uhuru Kenyatta said that the process had been tainted by outside forces. She referenced the hiring of returning officers to run the polls as an example.
“We should give Naivasha residents a chance to elect their representatives in the UDA nominations and we shall not entertain influence from outsiders,” She stated.
UDA also reported that they had received a total of 115 complaints, with the majority of them coming from county assembly candidates.
"The Registry has so far received a total of 115 disputes. 94 of these are drawn from aspiring Members of County Assembly seats, 34 of the cases have so far been dispensed with, 24 results have been nullified and there were orders for a recount in four wards. The rest of the cases are yet to be heard and determined.”
“The Committee urges those dissatisfied with the outcome to take necessary lawful action through the appellate processes established by the law. A detailed breakdown of the cases filed will be published in due course," the Statement read in part.
Some of the aspirants who were defeated in the primaries have already left the party, including Embu Senator Njeru Ndwiga, who has declared his intention to run as an independent.
