- Nairobi, Homa Bay, Narok, Busia and West Pokot will hold their grassroots elections on Friday.
- He said the election has so far attracted over 183,000 aspirants for the various party positions from the first five counties to hold the election.
Image: FILE
UDA Party National Election Board chairman Eng. Anthony Mwaura has said that the party is fully prepared to hold its grassroots elections starting Friday.
According to Mwaura, the party is set for the election that will be conducted electronically.
He said the election has so far attracted over 183,000 aspirants for the various party positions from the first five counties to hold the election.
The counties include Nairobi which has 853,000 registered members, Homa Bay (141,000), Narok (233,000), Busia (141,000) and West Pokot which has 208,000.
The NEB chairman said that the party is fully prepared for any eventualities that may arise, and because of this, each county holding the elections will have additional electronic gadgets that will be used for voting.
"We procured 10,000 gadgets for the exercise and each cost about $75 (Sh10,000). Each county will have extra gadgets just in case some fail we will have a backup," Mwaura said.
He affirmed that the system that will be used in the process is solid and will make the voting process easy.
He explained that the polling official would identify the members electronically, where each member would have a unique identification code.
It will then generate an E-ballot paper for each position being contested.
"Once the voter has been verified, they will be presented with a list of candidates, select the preferred candidate by clicking on their name or image," Mwaura said.
"After selecting their preferred candidate, the voter is required to review their choice and then confirm the selection."
He noted that immediately after the polls close at 3 pm, the results will be automatically released in minutes.
Mwaura who spoke to the Star on Thursday called on the members of the party to shun violence during the exercise.
He also asked the members to desist from engaging in acts of bribery, insisting that it is punishable and may lead to disqualification from the election.
"I want to urge members and aspirants to desist from violence and bribery."
The Elections board boss added that they are also prepared in case disputes arise from the election and they have a mechanism set up for those who will be aggrieved to file petitions.
Mwaura said the petitions will be filed with the Electoral Disputes Resolution Committee (EDRC)within 48 hours. Each petitioner will pay Sh5,000 to facilitate the process.
"We are prepared for all these and verdicts will be given within seven days," he said.
On Sunday, the UDA party received a consignment of gadgets that will be used to hold grassroots elections in the counties.
They were received by secretary general Cleophas Malala, NEB chair Mwaura, Japheth Nyakundi the UDA Treasurer, Nicodemus Bore, the Executive Director and NEB members and select Party Directors, at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.
On Tuesday, the EDRC chairperson Joy Mdivo in a statement said that any complaints that may arise from the coming party grassroots elections must be filed within 48 hours after the close of polling.
"Complaints will be lodged electronically via the email provided on the UDA website that is [email protected]," she said.
She urged members of the ruling party and especially candidates to familiarise themselves with the governing rules. She said the rules are available on UDA's website.
The second phase of the grassroots polls will be on June 22, in 13 counties, the third phase will be held on August 10 across 15 counties and the final phase on August 24, in 12 counties.