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Mwangi wa Iria ‘stuck’ in lift at IEBC offices


Mwangi was Iria was stuck in the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission’s (IEBC) lift at Anniversary Towers in Nairobi for minutes.

The Usawa Kwa Wote presidential aspirant had visited the Electoral Body offices as he sought answers as to know why his name was missing in the official list of presidential candidates in the August 9 polls.

He is reported to have been held in the lifts for a number of minutes with the matter attributed to a technical hitch occasioned by power failure.

This comes a day after he caused a scene outside the IEBC offices in protest over what he claimed was being barred from the presidential race.

“I was not given any reasons to why they removed my name, I have heard they had a meeting while trying to create a reason, and they send an officer to tell me privately.”

Questioning why this move was made against him, the Murang’a governor added, “My personal thinking is that when we bring signatures here some people are selling them because there is no way you can accept my documents, you don’t give me feedback and then seven days later when I inquire, you send people to me informally.”

Adamant that his name must be in the ballot, Wa Iria declared he will transform his party into a National Resistance if barred from contesting.

“This is not a game … we are not illiterate. I want to tell them one thing: I am in politics. They can play all their games, I will push them all to their end, and if at the end of the day they will not register me, I will convert my party into a resistance movement. They can be sure of that,” he said.

IEBC rejected his contest papers, saying he had not presented the legally acceptable number of signatures that is 48,000 from 24 counties.

The two-term governor had compiled signatures from 22 counties, of which only those from five counties met the threshold.