All civil officials seeking elective seats in the General Elections on August 9 were requested to retire in February.
The President urged people with political ambitions to quit their jobs by February 8th, according to a notice sent by the Head of Public Service Joseph Kinyua.
According to Kenya’s 2010 Constitution, all government officials seeking elective positions must resign six months before the election, which was held on or before February 9.
Even after spending millions of their hard-earned money on campaigns, several of them who resigned were unable to acquire tickets to run in the upcoming elections.
Former Water CS Sicily Kariuki is one of many who left from lucrative posts to try their luck in politics but failed to secure nomination tickets.
Kariuki resigned in February 2021 and reigned to run for governor of Nyandarua, but the Jubilee Party was unable to get a ticket.
This came after her bitter adversary, Nyandarua Governor Francis Kimemia, was given a straight ticket by the ruling party.
Charles Keter, her Devolution counterpart, withdrew to run for the Kericho Governorship but was unable to get a United Democratic Alliance (UDA) ticket.
Walter Mong’are resigned as Director of Youth and Development in the President’s Office to run for President, but the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) disqualified him for failing to satisfy the requisite threshold.
Former Tourism CAS Joseph Boinnet and former CAS Ken Obura were among those who resigned government jobs to run for elected office but were defeated in primaries.
John Mosonik, Kiema Kilonzo, Julius Malombe, Odoyo Owidi, and Isaiah Ogwe are among those who resigned and were unable to vote.
Some public officials who did not make the ballot are now blaming their parties for orchestrating their demise during the nomination process, citing the distribution of direct tickets and “shambolic” party nominations as examples.
The need that State officers retire six months before the election is discriminatory, according to the majority of them, because they are competing against current leaders who continue to enjoy the benefits of their positions.
They claimed that the provision should only take effect after the primaries, allowing losers to keep their state employment.
