• President Uhuru Kenyatta has for the first time admitted that Jubilee party lost in the concluded Kibra by-election.
• He urged Mount Kenya leaders to bury the hatchet and work together for the development of Kenyans.
Image: COURTESY
President Uhuru Kenyatta has for the first time spoken about Jubilee party's loss in the Kibra by-election.
The party had fronted McDonald Mariga as its aspirant in a by-election which attracted 24 aspirants.
Uhuru on Friday said that the party lost but the most important thing was that peace was maintained during the campaign period and on election day.
"In all my years, I had never seen how people could campaign peacefully in Kibra. There are a few people who were stoned but we did not see any shop burned or people having a hard time going home," Uhuru said.
"If an election can be done in Kibra and people do not lose their things or their lives, that is already a victory and people must learn from this."
He spoke at Sagana Lodge in Nyeri county during a Mt Kenya region meeting which was attended by governors, senators, MPs and MCAs.
Uhuru gave an example of one of his die-hard supporters from Kibra who has been a victim in the last three general elections.
Uhuru said the woman lost her belongings in 2007, 2013 and 2017 due to chaos that erupted during the electioneering period.
" That's when I believed that we are winning and the country is coming together where Kenyans are uniting and respecting each other," Uhuru said.
Uhuru said that inviting other people to join them does not mean that they are chasing away those who are together.
"All we want is those of us who are together to join up with others and see how to take the country forward," the President said.
He urged Mount Kenya leaders to bury the hatchet and work together for the development of Kenyans.
"Let us work together for the development of our people and not just engage in insults. Unless you just want to be featured in newspapers so that you can tell your mother to check the newspapers," Uhuru said.
Uhuru emphasised the need of living together which can be through solving emerging differences, comparing it with family issues that can be solved at the end.
"Even for me when I go home, I find my wife in a mood that makes me sit aside but that does not mean that I leave my home. I relax and say we can pick up the conversations the following morning so that she cools down from what is disturbing her".
The President said he will be touring the entire Mt Kenya region, kicking off in Meru with an aim of development.
"Please let us be one and develop this region. We will start with Meru.