UDA has invited aspirants seeking to participate in the by-election
After posting victory against his boss in London ward, Deputy President William now takes the battle to President Uhuru Kenyatta’s doorstep in Juja constituency in Kiambu.
Ruto’s UDA has invited aspirants seeking to participate in the Juja parliamentary by-election party primaries to submit their applications by Monday.
“The UDA members intending to participate in the by-election party …..shall submit their application on or before Monday March 8 at 12 noon to the party headquarters at Hustler Centre, Makindi Road, Nairobi,” reads a notice by the party.
Curiously, UDA did not invite candidates for Garissa senatorial by-election party primaries.
The notice came just hours after UDA candidate for London ward by-election in Nakuru Antony Nzuki beat Jubilee’s Francis Njoroge in a win that the DP’s allies say is a manifestation of the his popularity in Uhuru’s Mt.Kenya backyard.
Nzuki garnered 1,707 votes against Njoroge’s 1,385.
Ruto’s candidate however lost the Hellsgate ward by-election, also in the same county, to Jubilee Party.
“We have been telling people that Mt Kenya is behind Ruto, but some have been doubting. This by-election result should confirm to them,” said Mathira MP Rigathi Gachagua.
Gachagua, a key Ruto ally from Mt Kenya, said despite a political onslaught by Uhuru targeting Ruto and his allies in the region, the people will stand with the DP.
Ruto has been keen to penetrate the vote rich Mt.Kenya without the backing of his boss. His allies believe his fortunes in the region are intact despite the fallout.
The President has been urging Mt Kenya people to ignore Ruto’s overtures and even attacked the DP’s economic empowerment model fashioned around the wheelbarrow as incitement against his leadership.
Last week, IEBC announced that the by-elections in Juja, Bonchari, Garissa’s senatorial and Rurii’s ward by-elections will be held on May 18
Garissa’s by-election comes following the demise of Senator Yusuf Haji on February 15 after a long illness. Haji passed away aged 80 years at the Aga Khan University Hospital in Nairobi.
Bonchari constitutes lost their MP John Oroo Oyioka on February 15 following a long illness. Oyioka was announced dead by the family at the Aga Khan hospital in Kisumu.
In the same month of February, Juja MP Francis Waititu, popularly known as Wakapee, succumbed to brain cancer.
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