Big test for Jubilee, UDA as voting kicks off in Kiambaa
At least 96,000 voters in Kiambaa Constituency are expected to participate in a by-election exercise that kicked off on Thursday morning, July 15.
Eight candidates will be locking horns in the parliamentary mini-polls with two of them contesting on independent tickets while six others fronted by various political parties.
The by-election has been termed as a two-horse race between Jubilee’s candidate Kariri Njama and UDA’s John Njuguna Wanjiku.
A scan through various polling stations showed an impressive turnout as many people were seen already queuing to cast their votes.
No major issue has been reported from the ground other than the voting exercise kicking off in various polling stations.
Security officers have been deployed in the area to ensure law and order.
Many polling stations began the voting exercise at exactly 6:00 am while few experienced delays due to power outages.
A few hours to the by-election, reports emerged that the Jubilee candidate had withdrawn.
Party Secretary-General Raphael Tuju, however, dismissed the reports as erroneous saying their candidate remains on the ballot.
He accused their competitors of sensing defeat hence the need to come up with the propaganda.
“The Jubilee party candidate Kariri Njama Karanja is very much on the ballot tomorrow. Shame on those opponents that after sensing defeat have resorted to using an old, tired and primitive disinformation tactic used some time in the 1960s,” Tuju stated.
Tuju also stated that there are plans by a section of MPs to fake arrests so that they can attract sympathy votes.
“Kenyans should also be aware of another strategy of deceit in which some legislators are precipitating a situation of confrontation tomorrow morning and make claims that they have been arrested so that they may try and inflame emotions in the Kiambaa by-elections tomorrow,” he revealed.
The Kiambaa seat fell vacant after the death of former MP Paul Koinange who succumbed to Covid-19 on March 31.
