Kenya: Wanjigi, Aukot, Kigame to Sue IEBC for Barring Them From Presidential Race

Nairobi — Presidential aspirants Jimi Wanjigi of Safina Party, Thirdway Alliance's Ekuru Aukot and Agano Party's Reuben Kigame say they will challenge the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) decision to bar them from the Presidential race in the August Elections in court.

The three who call themselves the voice of the people were disqualified from the exercise due to lack of academic qualification and insufficient signatures.

Wanjigi who was thrown out due to a lack of a degree certificate alleged that the commission is under instructions from authorities above to bar him from vying.

"This template of dictatorship was defeated before and we shall defeat it now," said Wanjigi.

He indicated that they are speaking for the majority of Kenyans who are undecided and that their voice must be heard.

"We want to assure those Kenyans that your voice will be heard, and we shall be on the ballot," he stated.

His running mate Willis Otieno faulted Chebukati on the degree issue saying that the high court was very clear on the issue of the degree after they ruled that one is deemed a graduate after completing coursework.

According to Otieno, Wanjigi who is set to graduate in December is a degree holder by virtue of having completed his course work at the Daystar university.

"We are promising IEBC a legal battle they have never seen before, we will use all the law and produce evidence that shows how the commission has handled the degree issue in the past," he stated.

Aukot on the other hand who was disqualified for lack of requisite signatures accused the IEBC of applying the law selectively.

He also claimed that the commission doesn't have the capacity to hold the August 9 general elections.

"We are not going to tire, I am going to launch a case against each individual in the commission," Aukot stated.

On his part Reuben Kigame accused IEBC of being discriminative after having been lock out for lack of enough signatures.

Kigame also accused Chebukati and his commission of deliberately using regulations so as to lock out some aspirants.

"Chebukati and IEBC are the most discriminative entity in this country, they refused to receive my signatures arguing that am late," Kigame said.

"As the voice of the people we will not be silenced," he added.

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