President Uhuru Kenyatta has assured Jubilee aspirants that the nomination exercise will be credible and fair. “As the party leader of Jubilee I would like to assure all members as well as the aspirants that our party has worked hard and invested very heavily to ensure free, fair, transparent and credible primaries,” he said. He insisted that no one is favoured in Jubilee “Let me emphasize once again as I’ve done severally that there are no candidates favoured by the Jubilee party leadership and I’ll work with the people that Wananchi elect.”
President Kenyatta said this during the State of the Nation address at State House in Nairobi on Thursday. He said that violence during the party primaries will not be tolerated, “In recognition and respect to Article 31 of the Elections Act that governs party primaries, our police service have been put at the disposal of all political parties to ensure the security of all citizens and communities during this exercise.” President Kenyatta said that the government is committed to enforcing the rule of law and ensuring the safety and security of all citizens and communities during the primaries and general elections. He insisted that a culture of hooliganism during the electoral process will not be allowed.
However, President Kenyatta said that he is confident Jubilee’s nomination process will be robust and credible. He said several measures have been put in place to ensure credible process including, “Ballot papers with pictures as well as security features,” he said. He said that if any aspirant won’t be satisfied with the process, he or she should follow the set internal guidelines to solve the issue, “You must absolutely reject engaging in any violence or unruly disruption of the process.” The president outlined that any acts of violence in the party will lead to disqualification and misconduct may be subject to penalties under law.