The former Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) member Ahemed Kolosh got 11,053 votes under a Jubilee Party ticket to retain the Wajir West Parliamentary seat in the just Concluded by-election.
His closest rival Sheikh Ibrahim (KANU) came a distant second with 6,532 votes.
Kolosh decamped from ODM after the Supreme Court nullified his election in January 2019.
A month later, Deputy President Dr William Ruto received Kolosh at the Jubilee party headquarters.
As Ruto received Kolosh, he announced that he would be their frontrunner in the Wajir West by-election.
“As we welcome you to our party, we want to assure you that we will campaign for you to win,” Dr Ruto said at the time.
The Wajir West seat fell vacant following a successful petition filed by Abdirahman Ibrahim Mohammed of KANU.
ODM had intended to field another candidate Mohamed Yussuf but pulled out at the last minute after what they termed as ‘consultations’ with the Jubilee party leaders.
“Just as Jubilee did in the three recent by-elections, ODM will not take sides in the contest in Wajir West,” a letter from Junet Mohammed, the party’s Director of Elections said.
The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission had even cleared their candidate to contest for the seat.
However, the party indicated that they had convinced Yusuf to step down for Kolosh.
In a twist of events, Yusuf denied the claims from his party and was backed by a section of leaders from Wajir.
A statement from the Degodia community released on April 10, 2019 insisted that the Wajir community consulted with DP Ruto on their own.
