• He urged winners and losers to end the ongoing spat and instead refocus their energy on bigger national issues.
• Joho: "These by-elections are now gone. Others are on the way."
Image: FILE
Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho has termed the results of the recent by-elections insignificant, saying they will not shape the direction of the 2022 elections.
Whereas the second-term governor admitted that the results of Bonchari, Juja and Rurii by-elections largely reflected the wishes of the people, he called on Kenyans to focus on bigger pressing issues as opposed to the polls.
He urged winners and losers to end the ongoing spat and instead refocus their energy on bigger national issues.
"These by-elections are now gone. Others are on the way. None of them will be indicators of what lies ahead in our politics. Our experience is that in this country is that by-elections are never true indicators of what next general elections will look like," Joho said in a statement.
He added: "In the elections scheduled for 2022, Kenyans will not be guided with what happened in Bonchari, Juja and Rurii by-elections. That reality should make us sober up, put those by-elections in the past and focus on what really matters to Kenyans right now."
According to the ODM Deputy Party Leader, the country should be more concerned with the soaring number of Covid-19 pandemic cases.
"It is time for both winners and losers to end all the blame games, the grandstanding, extended celebrations and lamentations and focus all our energy on uniting the country to fight the coronavirus pandemic, help those in need and invest in economic revitalization and recovery."
Joho's statement comes days after upheaval in the ruling Jubilee party over the recent twin losses in the Bonchari and Juja by-elections.
In Bonchari, ODM candidate Pavel Oimeke won beating by a small margin JP’s candidate Zebedeo Opore.
In Juja, Jubilee’s candidate Susan Waititu lost to George Koimburi of the little known PEP party linked to Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria.