Some 72 political parties have submitted their nomination rules to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) ahead of party primaries slated for next month.
Addressing the Kenya Editors Guild (KEG) at a Nairobi hotel yesterday, IEBC Chairperson Wafula Chebukati said that the parties’ compliance with the stipulated timelines indicates that they are ready for the nominations.
The political parties were expected to start submitting their nomination rules from February 20 to March 2.
But Chebukati said that during the nominations slated for April 13 to 26, the commission would only offer technical support to interested parties.
The commission has allowed political parties to form their own internal tribunals to solve disputes that could erupt from the primaries.
The IEBC boss said: “We have held meetings with NASA, Jubilee and other political parties on the issue of nominations. We agreed that IEBC will only offer technical support during the process”.
The commission says it has trained some of its officers to mediate special cases that would not have been resolved by the tribunals.
They say that the parties’ internal dispute resolution mechanisms would ease their work and save time as the nation heads towards the August 8 General elections.
The guild’s chairman Linus Kaikai called on the electoral body to handle the forthcoming polls with an “open mind and fairness” to ensure that the process is transparent.