Amani National Congress leader Musalia Mudavadi has said the party will do everything to win the Kibra parliamentary seat in the by-election scheduled for November 7.
Speaking to the Star in Nairobi on Wednesday, Mudavadi said ANC candidate Eliud Owalo "has what it takes to beat rivals from both ODM and Jubilee."
Owalo is a former strategist for Raila Odinga decamped from ODM to ANC to seek the seat he lost in the 2017 election to Ken Okoth of ODM.
Okoth died in July, occasioning the by-election.
“Owalo is a strong candidate, he was born and raised in Kibra. As a party, we are confident that we will win. We will surely teach our competitors a lesson,” Mudavadi told the Star.
The former deputy Prime said they will approach Wiper Democratic Movement led by Kalonzo Musyoka if the party will not be fielding a candidate in the by-election.
“We cannot ignore the support of Wiper. They have a strong presence in the constituency and we hope to work together to ensure we win.”
Jubilee has picked footballer MacDonald Maraiga as its candidate.
Langata MP Nixon Korir who is among those leading the campaigns for Mariga told the Star their main challenge was ODM.
Korir, a close ally of the Deputy President William Ruto, said they believe they will win the seat because they have the numbers.
“Our competitor is none other than ODM. Democracy was the biggest beneficiary of the handshake and we expect all parties and candidates to carry out peaceful campaigns. It will play out like Mashemeji derby," Korir said in reference to football rivalry between leading clubs Gor Mahia and AFC Leopards.
“Whoever will win, we should be ready to shake hands and move on. We want candidates to campaign on development issues.”
Lugari MP Ayub Savula, who is also the ANC deputy party leader, downplayed Mariga's candidature saying the Luhya community in the constituency will vote for the party's candidate.
“We are determined to win. Mariga is from Busia county and a majority of the Luhuyas in Kibra are from Vihiga and Kakamega. The Jubilee schemes to divide the Luhya vote will not work. We will go in as a united team,” Savula said.
He said all leaders from Western region have each been assigned a ward in Kibra where they were leading door to door campaigns. "Our party leader Musalia Mudavadi will be joining us in these campaigns.”
Kibra constituency has 118,276 registered voters distributed among its five wards of Lindi, Laina Saba, Sarang’ombe, Makina and Woodley/Kenyatta Golf Course.
Political parties seeking to field candidates for the by-elections have until Sunday to conclude their nominations. The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission will receive candidate's nomination certificates on Monday and Tuesday next week.
edited by peter obuya
