By Pharis Kinyua-Jamhuri News
Jubilee Party has cracked the whip and fired 73 presiding officers in Tetu constituency in Nyeri County over alleged attempts to rig primaries slated for tomorrow.
The officials were pounced on by disillusioned supporters at Aberdare Country Club on Tuesday where they were meeting incumbent Tetu MP, Ndungu Githinji and his chief campaigner Fianju Mathenge.
The meeting is believed to have been geared towards plotting how to rig for Githinji who is vying on a Jubilee ticket.
The Elections Board Chairman in Nyeri County George Kibera maintained the party dismissed the officers in an effort to promote fairness and transparency in the nomination process.
He said there was irrefutable evidence of foul play and malpractice on the officers’ side.
“The Board decided to dismiss all the presiding officers in Tetu because there was evidence of malpractice,” he told the press Wednesday evening in Nyeri.
However, the County elections board will not institute any disciplinary measures on Githinji according to Kibera.
He said the matter is under the purview of the National Disciplinary Committee based at the Party headquarters.
Tetu’s rigging attempts threaten to erode the spirit of fairness and transparency Jubilee has worked to entrench in the minds of its supporters.
On Wednesday, the party’s Secretary-General, Rapahel Tuju and the party’s National Elections Board Chair Edward Musangi assured aspirants that they have come up with foolproof systems to ensure there will be no rigging at the primaries.
Some of the measures that have been employed include the use of a foolproof ballot that cannot be duplicated. It has five security features that cannot be manipulated.