Simon Mbugua, Ken Musyoka, 7 others to represent Kenya at Eala

From left: Mr Kennedy Musyoka, Mr Simon Mbugua and Ms Flowrence Jematiah Sergon. They are among nine MPs who will represent Kenya at Eala. PHOTOS | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • The most experienced amongst them is Dr Oburu Oginga, the former Bondo MP, and the youngest is Flowrence Jematiah Sergon.

  • They were declared elected after more than six hours of voting and tallying in both the National Assembly and the Senate.

  • Former Kamukunji MP Simon Mbugua secured a political comeback and got the majority votes among Jubilee Party’s 14 nominees.

  • He had 286 votes.

Seven former MPs and two youthful greenhorns have been elected to represent Kenya at the East African Legislative Assembly.

The most experienced amongst them is Dr Oburu Oginga, the former Bondo MP, and the youngest is Flowrence Jematiah Sergon.

286 VOTES

They were declared elected after more than six hours of voting and tallying in both the National Assembly and the Senate.

Former Kamukunji MP Simon Mbugua secured a political comeback and got the majority votes among Jubilee Party’s 14 nominees.

He had 286 votes.

Others elected on the Jubilee Party ticket are Ms Sergon (252), former Mandera North MP Aden Nooru Mohammed (192), former Tigania East MP Mpuru Aburi (208) and former Nyandarua Woman Rep Wanjiku Muhia (180).

Elected on the Nasa ticket were: Mr Kennedy Musyoka (309), former Balambala MP Abdikadir Aden (235), Dr Oginga (243) and former Wajir Woman Rep Fatuma Ibrahim Ali (142). 

Mr Mbugua was MP for Kamukunji between 2008 and 2011.

His term was cut short by a successful petition and he lost the subsequent by-election to Yusuf Hassan, who is still MP. 

HEAD GIRL

He tried to make a comeback this year and had initially been handed the nomination certificate but gave it back and stepped down for Mr Hassan, who had claimed that his loss in the nominations was unfair. 

Mr Mbugua entered politics after serving as the chairman of Gikomba Mitumba Association and then as chairman of town hawkers and the Kamukunji Branch of Kanu. 

According to the CV he submitted to Parliament, Mr Mbugua was also chairman of the Kenya Red Cross in Nairobi and then served as a trustee of the Party of National Unity before election as MP in December 2007.

Backed by Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko, Mr Mbugua spent a considerable time campaigning in the corridors of Parliament. 

Ms Jematia became a leader at an early age. She was head girl at Marigat Secondary School in Baringo County.

She trained at the Kenya Medical Training College and then had a career switch to politics— working for the defunct United Republican Party and then as Jubilee Party’s coordinator in Baringo, Nakuru and Elgeyo-Marakwet in this year’s campaigns.

KENNEDY

She spent a good part of the last two weeks in the corridors of Parliament.  

Mr Musyoka Jnr has been working as a consultant for the Wiper Party, led  by his father Kalonzo Musyoka.

He has a degree in law from the University of Nairobi and another in international affairs and politics from the University of New Castle in South Wales, Australia.

Mr Aden is the immediate former MP for Balambala Constituency.

He was elected in 2013, but lost in his bid to retain the seat during the August 8 General Election.

He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in International Business Administration (marketing) from the United States International University–Africa (USIU-A) and a diploma in Public Relations from the Institute of Commercial Management in the UK.

ADEN

Mr Aden, 45, first worked at Standard Chartered Bank, having entered the bank as International Management trainee and rose to senior management role as regional manager.

He then joined the British American Tobacco (BAT) in 2006 and within two years, he had risen to the position of Head of Trade Horn of Africa Markets where he was in charge for strategy formulation and implementation in Ethiopia, Somalia (including Somaliland), Djibouti and Eritrea.

There was intense campaign and lobbying ahead of the Thursday vote, with the race thrown wide open in Jubilee after President Uhuru Kenyatta refused to endorse any of the candidates. 

President Kenyatta had been asked at Wednesday’s Parliamentary Group meeting about the party’s choice for the regional assembly. 

But, according to MPs who attended the closed meeting, Mr Kenyatta said it would be unfair for him to ask supporters to apply, assure them of party support in the election and then turn round and show the MPs who to vote for.

UHURU

He was reported to have told the lawmakers to elect people they believed would advance the party’s interests on one hand and regional integration on the other. 

President Kenyatta was reported to have been worried that if he decided for the MPs, it would not only prejudice the other eight but put him in a situation where they would then ask for some other position.

“I have so many interests to assuage and I telling you to vote, means that I must prepare to reward those who will not be elected because of my action. That is a tall order for now,” the president told the group.

This decision resulted in an increase in lobbying, which hit fever pitch on Wednesday night. 

SONKO FACTOR

Mr Sonko was in Parliament and held meetings with small groups of MPs in the restaurant, the bar, the lobby and the members’ lounge— drawing a large crowd wherever he went. 

So crowded and loud was the lobby that at about 7.20pm Wednesday, Chief Seargent-At-Arms Aloise Lekulo led officers in asking everyone except MPs to leave Parliament. 

The officers also swept up the cards and small posters the candidates had been handing out to MPs, perhaps signalling the end of the campaigns. 

Each of the five East African Community partner states has nine slots in the East African Legislative Assembly, which is the legislative arm of the community.