Late former Kiambaa MP’s widow June Koinange locked out of by-election
The late former Kiambaa MP Paul Koinange's widow June Koinange has missed out on the list of candidates who will contest in the Kiambaa by-elections.
The widow who initially intended to run on a Jubilee ticket before defecting to Safina party at the last minute, was declared time-barred by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).
June had already begun campaigning for the seat and the move to lock him out is a huge blow to her ambitions.
8 candidates were cleared by IEBC to run for the seat in the by-election slated for July 15, 2021.
Among those who were cleared is Kariri Njama of the ruling party Jubilee and Njuguna Wanjiku of United Democratic Alliance (UDA) which is associated with Deputy President William Ruto.
Addressing the media and his supporters at the Karuri IEBC offices, the Jubilee candidate expressed confidence that he will clinch the seat.
"We as Jubilee shall be keen to recapture the seat through among other
things door to door campaign strategy and relying on locals as opposed to outsiders to lead the exercise," he said.
Kariri was the first runners up in the 2017 polls. He lost the late Koinange.
Others who were eyeing the Jubilee ticket are Josephat Kamanya, June, Lennah Koinange who is Koinange's younger sister and Damaris Wambu.
All eyes are now on Kiambaa with Jubilee which is smarting from the Juja loss expected to burn the midnight oil hoping to recapture the seat.
Other candidates include Richard Njoroge of The New Democrats whose chairman is the outspoken Nyeri gubernatorial loser Thuo Mathenge, Isaac Karomo( Federal Party of Kenya), Willie Mbugua, David Mugo and Evans Wainaina.
