UDA suspends district elections in Nairobi on Monday

The national electoral committee of the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) has suspended the Nairobi County elections scheduled for Monday.

The party’s national electoral committee, headed by Anthony Mwaura, said in a statement on Saturday that the move was prompted by an order from the Political Parties Dispute Settlement Tribunal.

The highly anticipated elections were set to pit the camp of Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja against a team allied with Embakasi North MP James Gakuya.

Sakaja was considered the frontrunner and possible winner of the office of district chairman after he received the support of 240 of the 340 possible delegates in the constituency elections.

“This suspension was made pursuant to an order of the Party Disputes Tribunal dated 6 June 2024 stopping the Nairobi County elections,” the panel said.

“The Board will inform you of the new date and any additional instructions in due course. We apologize for any inconvenience and thank you for your understanding and cooperation in this matter.”

The cancellation of the district elections came hours after the election committee held a meeting with Sakaja and Gakuya’s teams on Thursday.

The meeting was intended to discuss unclear questions about the voting mode after Gakuya’s camp reportedly advocated a manual system instead of a digital one.

The delegates at the constituency level had used an electronic system to elect 20 officials from each constituency, who then elected the district chairmen.

The party’s electoral committee had previously confirmed that the elections would be held digitally after procuring equipment worth millions of shillings.