Chege Njuguna of President William Ruto’s United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party has won the Kandara parliamentary race, and is now set to replace former legislator Alice Wahome who was appointed Cabinet Secretary for Water and Sanitation.
In Thursday’s election, Mr Njuguna shrugged off a scare by Ford Asili’s Titus Njau Mbuchu to clinch the seat, and was declared winner on Friday by Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) Returning Officer Ms Linnah Kilonzi at the Ng’araria Girls High School tallying centre.
Mr Njuguna won with 21,650 votes, while Mr Mbuchu garnered 14,678 votes.
Kandara MP-elect Chege Njuguna rejoices on January 6, 2023 after he was declared winner in the by-election at Ng’araria Secondary School.
Mr Kibiru PMG Junior, who had the backing of former Governor Mwangi wa Iria on the Usawa Kwa Wote USK) party ticket, garnered 1,469 votes.
The other five candidates in the race garnered less than 1,000 votes, with independent candidate David Kamweti Njuguna getting 207 votes and Samuel Kioi of The New Democrats (ND) party getting 201 votes.
The other three independent candidates Joseph Mbugua Mburu, Pius Muiruri Muturi and Erastus Gatehi Nyoike got 107, 100 and 36 votes, respectively.
While declaring the results, Ms Kilonzi said there was high voter apathy in the by-election.
Of the 105,148 registered voters, only 38,625 (36.73 percent) turned out to vote.
Ms Kilonzi said the exercise was generally fairly peaceful in all the 197 polling stations.
Generally, the voting went on smoothly despite the eight candidates trading accusations of voter bribery, intimidation and violence.
Kandara Constituency returning officer Linnah Kilonzi (right) presents a certificate to the newly elected MP Chege Njuguna on January 6, 2023.
However, there was a scuffle involving a security officer and some youth in one polling centre.
A male prison warden who had been paired with a National Police Service officer to guard Kariua Polling station was arrested after he turned violent.
“The warden got into trouble with some youths in the polling station and when his colleague intervened, he assaulted him. We arrested the warden and he is being held at Githumu Police station as investigations continue,” said Murang’a County police Commander Ali Nuno.
400 police officers were deployed toprovide security during the by-election with 150 others on standby should there emerge an incident requiring reinforcement.
While gender lobbyists had wished that the seat be won by a female candidate on grounds that Ms Wahome had won a third term before she was appointed to Cabinet, no woman made it to the final race. BY DAILY NATION