Politicians eyeing the Embakasi South parliamentary seat are holding strategy meetings in anticipation of the looming by-election.
National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi is expected to issue writs declaring the parliamentary seat vacant by Friday following the verdict of the Supreme Court nullifying the election of Julius Mawathe.
Various communities living in the constituency are planning on how to field one of their own in the by-election set to be held in 90 days.
Former MP Irshad Sumra, who successfully challenged Mawathe's win at the Court of Appeal has been traversing the constituency and holding meetings with residents in a bid to consolidate his votes.
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The former MP, who ran on the ODM ticket, hopes to ride on the party’s dominance in the area to recapture the seat he lost to Wiper’s Mawathe.
“The victory was mine, but it was stolen from me. The courts affirmed this position. I am going back to the people to confirm their endorsement,” Sumra said on Monday.
However, Sumra faces competition from new entrant Rashid Minyong’a, who is seeking the Jubilee party ticket.
Minyong'a has previously run for the South Mugirango seat but never won.
He has decided to shift his political base to Nairobi.
Minyong’a wants to ride on his slum initiative to secure votes.
“I have listened to my people and I have heard their cries. I have humbly accepted their request to represent them in Parliament,” he said.
Although Mawathe has maintained a relatively low profile after his victory was overturned, he has been holding night meetings with his supporters to plan ways to get back the seat.
Over the weekend he held a series of closed-door meetings around the constituency.
He is expected to fly the Wiper flag in the by-election, with the handshake deal between President Uhuru Kenyatta and opposition leader Raila Odinga set to complicate the equation for him and Sumra.
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