• ANC candidate Peter Nabulindo won the fiercely contested Matungu seat beating ODM’s David Were, UDA’s Alex Lanya and 12 other contesters.
• In Kabuchai, Ford Kenya’s Joseph Kalasinga beat Ruto’s UDA candidate Evans Kakai with a huge margin.
Image: FILE
ANC leader Musalia Mudavadi and Ford Kenya’s Moses Wetangula have stamped their authority in their western home turf with twin wins in the Matungu and Kabuchai parliamentary by-elections.
The duo waded off stiff competition from ODM leader Raila Odinga and Deputy President William Ruto to post sweet victories in the hotly contested elections.
ANC candidate Peter Nabulindo won the fiercely contested Matungu seat beating ODM’s David Were, UDA’s Alex Lanya and 12 other contesters.
According to results released by the IEBC, Nabulindo garnered 14, 257 votes thrashing his closest challenger, ODM’s Were who got 10, 565 votes.
And in what could send the DP back to the drawing board, his UDA candidate, Kakai, came a distant third with 5, 513 votes.
In Kabuchai, Ford Kenya’s Joseph Kalasinga beat Ruto’s UDA candidate Evans Kakai with a huge margin.
Kalasinga got 19, 274 votes or 65 per cent of the votes cast against Kakai’s 6, 455 or 22 per cent of the total votes cast.
“Mudavadi and Wetangula have sent a clear message. They are taking charge of Western politics,” political observer Martin Andati said.
The battle for the seats was titanic with political pundits touting the mini-polls a litmus test for the bigwigs ahead of the 2022 race for State House.
All the big shots deployed their best arsenals to woo voters for their candidates in the polls that was seen as a test run for next year’s presidential duel.
Wetangula and Mudavadi have been working to wade off ‘political invasion’ of the region and position themselves as the heavy weights in Western politics.
The vote rich region been considered a battlefield with every presidential hopeful angling for a slice of the vote.
In their strategy seen as a plot to consolidate their votes and stamp their authority, Wetangula and Mudavadi crafted a working formula that saw their parties avoid direct competition in the two mini-polls.
In Matungu, Wetangula party opted out of the race and instead backed Mudavadi’s ANC’s Nabulindo.
The late former MP Justus Mutunga whose death triggered the by-election, was elected on an ANC party ticket.
In Kabuchai, ANC decided to support and held Ford Kenya’s retain its seat. Late former MP James Lusweti was elected on the party ticket.
ANC and Ford Kenya mounted aggressive joint campaigns with Wetangula and Mudavadi personally taking charge of the campaigns.
Their colleagues in the yet to be formed alliance – Gideon Moi (Kanu) and Kalonzo Musyioka (Wiper) also opted out of the races and were in the constituencies in solidarity as part of their wider strategy that finally paid off.
For decades, ODM’s Raila has enjoyed massive political support from the region. The residents have voted for him almost to a man since 2007.
ODM party candidate’s loss in Matungu, despite the aggressive campaigns, could be a pointer a united Wetangula and Mudavadi alliance are eroding his dominance.
Kakamega Governor Wycliffe Oparanya, who is Raila’s deputy in ODM, led the campaigns for the party candidate in the polls.
Andati observed that the Western voters appear ‘fatigued’ with Raila and the loss is a statement that his fortunes in the area dwindling.
DP Ruto who has been traversing the region and managed to net several politicians from the region to his camp, has made inroads in the area.
He deployed a team of politicians led by former majority chief whip Benjamin Washiali, former Kakamega senator Bonny Khalwale and former sports CS Rashid Echesa to campaign for his UDA candidate.
The loss could force him and his strategists to go back to the drawing boards and craft a new strategy to penetrate the region.
“Ruto will have to rethink his approach to Western. Going to church a lone and fundraising will not translate into votes,” he said.