Nine journalists clinch elective seats in polls

Nine journalists who won various seats in last week’s General Election. PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Former Mediamax Network chairman Granton Samboja is the incoming Taita-Taveta governor after he beat incumbent John Mruttu.
  • Mr Enoch Wambua, a newspaper journalist, and Mr Ben Oluoch Okello, a broadcaster, won the Kitui and Migori Senate seats, respectively.
  • Former Baringo County Speaker William Kassait, a former newspaper editor, beat incumbent Asman Kamama to the Tiaty MP seat.

Nine journalists won various seats in last week’s General Election with one of them clinching the coveted county governorship.

Two of them will sit in the Senate while six other became woman representatives and Members of the National Assembly.

Former Mediamax Network chairman Granton Samboja is the incoming Taita-Taveta governor after he beat incumbent John Mruttu, who was defending his seat as an independent candidate after losing in the Orange Democratic Movement primaries, as well as ODM’s Thomas Mwadeghu.

Mr Samboja, a former radio presenter who ran on a Wiper Democratic Movement ticket, garnered 39,311 votes, or 36 per cent of the votes cast, with the incumbent second with 23,399 votes.

Mr Enoch Wambua, a newspaper journalist, and Mr Ben Oluoch Okello, a broadcaster, won the Kitui and Migori Senate seats, respectively.

Mr Wambua, a former editor with both the Nation and The Standard, easily won the seat after he bagged the Wiper ticket in the primaries while Mr Oluoch, who was a presenter with Ramogi FM, ran on an ODM ticket.

INDEPENDENT

Mr Wambua garnered 248,928 votes to replace Mr David Musila, the then-Wiper chairman who was vying for the governor’s seat as an independent after he lost in the party nominations. 

Mr Oluoch got 182,668 votes to succeed Dr Wilfred Machage, who did not defend his seat but ran for the Kuria West parliamentary seat, which he lost to Jubilee Party’s Mathias Nyamabe.

Radio host Gathoni wa Muchomba, who has rocked vernacular air waves in central Kenya for close to two decades, takes over the Kiambu woman rep seat from President Uhuru Kenyatta’s relative Ann Nyokabi, whom she trounced in the Jubilee primaries.

Ms Wa Muchomba, known for her Muiguithania (The Reconciler) show, which airs on Kameme FM on Saturday mornings, garnered 915,992 votes—the third-highest tally nationally after President Kenyatta and Nasa’s residential candidate Raila Odinga.

SABINA CHEGE

Murang’a’s Sabina Chege, a former broadcaster at Coro FM, got 390,912 votes to retain her woman rep seat after defeating fellow former broadcaster Waithira Muithirani (Inooro FM).

Ms Wa Muchomba’s former colleague at Kameme FM, Ms Wanjiku wa Kibe, won the Gatundu North parliamentary seat to become the only elected female MP in Kiambu County. 

Ms Wa Kibe, 41, who was a nominated Member of the County Assembly, garnered 39,448 votes.

Former investigative television journalist Mohammed Ali of the Jicho Pevu programme fame, who vied as an independent candidate, bagged 26,798 votes to 13 contestants to the Nyali MP seat.

Former Baringo County Speaker William Kassait, a former newspaper editor, beat incumbent Asman Kamama to the Tiaty MP seat.

In Kilifi County, former Nation Media Group reporter Paul Katana (ODM) takes over from Mr Gunga Mwinga as Kaloleni MP.