Uhuru to skip Mariga's Kibra campaign

President Uhuru Kenyatta will not campaign for Jubilee's Macdonald Mariga in Kibra.

People close to the President said he "has more pressing national issues to attend to and there were no plans for him to campaign in Kibra".

"That is not in his plan. The President is focused on the Big Four Agenda," a senior official at Harambee House said.

State House spokesperson Kanze Dena had not responded to requests for a comment on the story by 7pm.

The IEBC yesterday cleared Mariga for the Kibra by-election setting the stage for a 2022 dress rehearsal between DP William Ruto and ODM leader Raila Odinga.

Mariga is said to enjoy Ruto's support and the most ardent backers of his candidature  — Kipchumba Murkomen and Nixon Korir — are the DP's close allies.

Mariga's candidature has split the ruling party with leaders allied to President Uhuru not keen to show their support for him.

Secretary general Raphael Tuju is the only high profile person from Uhuru's camp who showed up to handover Mariga's party nomination certificate.

It is understood that Uhuru does not want to join the campaign because it could send a wrong message to his handshake partner Raila Odinga.

Raila was the Langata (which included Kibra) MP for 15 years and has since then maintained a strong grip of the constituency.

The area was split into Langata and Kibra in the last election. 

The November 7 by-election has been billed as a do-or-die political duel for Raila with Ruto scheming to use the event as a warm-up for his 2022 presidential bid.  

Raila, ODM officials say, will campaign for his candidate Imran Okoth in an elaborate door-to-door strategy. 

Shaping the battle lines, the dispute tribunal of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission chaired by chairman Wafula Chebukati declared Mariga both an “eligible voter and valid candidate.”

Mariga, an ex-international footballer had initially been found ineligible to contest the mini-poll after the Kibra constituency returning officer failed to find his name in the voters' register.

The law requires that for one to be a valid parliamentary candidate they must be registered voters in any polling station in the republic.

But in a precedent-setting call, Chebukati's panel overturned the returning officers' decision and ruled that it was the commission to blame for Mariga's temporary predicament because it failed to update the voters register as required.

“The applicant is a registered voter and therefore, the committee has set aside an earlier order by the returning officer nullifying his candidature,” Chebukati said.

He went on, “The respondent’s decision of 10th September 2019 declining the nomination of the complainant on account that he was not registered as a voter is hereby set aside.”

However, Rarieda MP Otiende Amolo poured cold water on the IEBC tribunal's ruling saying it affirmed the need to overhaul the commission ahead of 2022.

“Listening to the pontifications and prevarications of the IEBC commissioners, it is clear to me, more than before, that we must sweep the commission clean at the top levels,” Amolo tweeted.

Mariga had moved to the tribunal to challenge the decision by returning officer Beatrice Muli to invalidate his nomination to vie for the Kibra parliamentary seat on a Jubilee ticket.

Listening to the pontifications and prevarications of the IEBC commissioners, it is clear to me, more than before, that we must sweep the commission clean at the top levels

He registered as a voter on August 26, in Kariokor Social Hall polling station in Starehe constituency and received an acknowledgement slip bearing an elector's number.

While the Kieleweke team has resisted Mariga's candidature, the DP's lieutenants flying the Tangatanga flag have been raring for a titanic battle with Raila.

“We will give the Jubilee candidate the necessary support as a party. Let the people of Kibra decide. The race is not for us to decide,” Senate Majority leader Kipchumba Murkomen said.

Murkomen, who spoke outside the IEBC offices after the tribunal cleared Mariga, insisted that the people of Kibra must be allowed to choose for themselves.

National Assembly Majority leader Aden Duale, who was also present for the tribunal's ruling, welcomed Mariga's clearance.

“We are happy with the verdict delivered by the committee chairman Wafula Chebukati in that he is a registered voter and can vie for the Kibra by-election,” Duale tweeted.

But Former Kitutu Masaba MP Timothy Bosire faulted the IEBC for clearing Mariga saying the electoral commission was “thriving on unnecessary impunity.”

“The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission must demonstrate a willingness to uphold the law,” Bosire, the ODM national Treasurer said, terming the ruling mischievous.

Describing himself as a victim of IBEC impunity and interference, Bosire insisted that the people of Kibra must be allowed to exercise their rights without intimidation and imposition.

“I have nothing personal against Mariga because I don't know him. But given how he has been cleared, the people of Kibra are far-much intelligent and independent. They (Kibra voters) will make an informed choice.

The participation of National Super Alliance affiliates in the by-election, Bosire said, casts doubts on the future of the moribund coalition.

Already Ford Kenya's Moses Wetangula has fielded Khamisi Butichi while ANC leader Musalia Mudavadi has lined up former Raila aide Eliud Owalo in a race that analysts say would put the last nail on Nasa's coffin.

Musalia on Sunday dismissed claims by some ODM politicians that Raila controls Kibra and that nobody will take that away from his grip.

“Kibra is not anyone's bedroom,” Musalia said on Sunday in an apparent attack on ODM, which has warned rivals to brace for a bruising battle.

(edited by O. Owino)