Will it be easy for Raila Odinga’s pointman?The race for Embakasi South MP seat is hotting up after Gideon Moi-led KANU Party fielded a candidate to face ODM’s Irshad Sumra and Wiper party’s Julius Mawathe.
The independence party nominated Jefferson Kasingu as its candidate for the seat that fell vacant following the nullification of Mawathe’s win by the Supreme Court.
“This is to notify you that in accordance with the party’s nomination rules and the party constitution, KANU has nominated Mr. Jafferson Teddy Kasingu as our sole candidate to contest in the Embakasi South by-election,” national election board chairman Edward Kivuvani said.
Kasingu joins Sumra and Mawathe who have been nominated by their respective parties to vie for the seat.
President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Jubilee party has already announced it will not field a candidate for the seat.
The move did not however go down well with Deputy President William Ruto and a section of Jubilee MPs allied to him.
They reportedly protested that the party leadership made the decision without consulting the members to give Raila Odinga’s ODM candidate an easy ride.
“We were not informed about any meeting that deliberated on the matter of us not fielding a candidate in Embakasi South. Otherwise we had serious and popular candidates who had expressed interest to fly the party flag,” a vocal Jubilee senator had told the Star on Wednesday.
Ruto and the MPs are now planning to support Mawathe.
On Tuesday, MPs Moses Kuria (Gatundu South), Charles Njagua (Starehe), George Theuri (Embakasi West) and Simon Mbugua (EALA) met and declared their support for Mawathe.
The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission will conduct the by-election in the constituency on April 5.