Wanjiku Muhoho back to Nyandarua woman rep contest

Nyandarua Women Rep aspirant Wanjiku Muhoho addresses her supporters at Njabini Trading Center in Kinangop Nyandarua County on March 27, 2017. PHOTO | JOHN GITHINJI | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Ms Wanjiku Muhoho made a sudden U-turn amid the controversy that surrounded the disputed results.
  • Ms Muhoho said she had decided to return to the race since politics was a matter of strategy.
  • She urged Nyandarua residents to maintain peace during the campaigns and during the August 8 elections.

It will not be an easy ride for the Nyandarua woman representative Jubilee Party nominee Faith Gitau after President Uhuru Kenyatta’s cousin Wanjiku Muhoho got back into the race as an independent candidate.

The youngest aspirant for the seat, at 27, Ms Muhoho was the first to concede after she came a distant third in the party primaries, with 8,019 votes.

The front runners, Ms Gitau and Ms Wanjiku Muhia, garnered 106,004 and 75,296 votes, respectively, while Ms Jane Gathoni Kiambati trailed the trio after polling 2,538. Ms Muhia is the incumbent.

DISPUTED RESULTS

However, Ms Muhoho made a sudden U-turn amid the controversy that surrounded the disputed results.

The dispute saw the Political Parties Disputes Tribunal nullify Ms Gitau’s victory to hand Ms Muhia the ticket.

On Friday, however, the High Court sitting in Nairobi rescinded the tribunal’s verdict and reinstated the initial results, clearing Ms Gitau to vie for the seat in the August 8 General Election on a Jubilee ticket.

Ms Muhoho said she had decided to return to the race since politics was a matter of strategy.

“My loyalty is to the voters, not any other politician,” said Ms Muhoho. “I am running as an independent candidate and I am confident of winning the seat.”

Ms Muhoho revealed that as her rivals were busy fighting over the party ticket she was strategising and organising her campaign machinery.

JOINING INDEPENDENTS

She said the decision to contest was also influenced by her supporters, adding that she will be joining other independents in campaigning for the President.

And on Sunday, Ms Gitau extended an olive branch to Ms Muhia, asking her to team up with her and re-unite the county’s residents.

She said the party primaries and subsequent petitions filed at the tribunal and the court had divided the people, hence the need for leaders to unite them.

“The nominations and the court cases have left our people divided,” said Ms Gitau at Equator Catholic Church, Gatimu Location in Nyandarua County. “I therefore invite her (Ms Muhia) to join me and other leaders in uniting the people Nyandarua.”

Ms Muhia had contested the results of the nominations, citing the burning of ballot papers in Ol Kalou Constituency, which she claimed was meant to conceal malpractices in the voting.

CONCEDING DEFEAT

“Losing and conceding defeat in an election is not a sign of weakness,” said Ms Gitau. “It is a sign of mature leadership.

“Muhia should concede and join me in serving Nyandarua people, as I did when she defeated me in 2013.”

She urged Nyandarua residents to maintain peace during the campaigns and during the August 8 elections.

The earlier decision to award Ms Muhia the nomination certificate had sparked a series of protests and demonstrations across the county.

During the protests, one person was shot dead at Fly Over in Kinangop Constituency.

Another person, who suffered gunshot wounds during the violent demonstrations, is admitted at the Kijabe Mission Hospital.