It’s Senator Mutula Kilonzo Jr for Makueni

Mutula Junior being congratulated by Wiper Chairman David Musila/MIKE KARIUKI

Mutula Jr clinched the seat with a vote count of 163,229(91pc) from 914 polling stations out of 914, leaving the second runner up, Philip Kaloki, behind with a vote tally of 9,762 (5pc).

“This is not a landslide. This is a continental shift. Landslide cannot define this victory,“ Mutula Jr said. Our work is now to synergise and my interest is leadership and we will work towards that. We are ready to deliver service to the Makueni people.”

Harun Mwau of PICK party came in third with 6,431(4pc) votes. Independent candidate Urbanus Katumo and LPK’s Jane Kitundu got 517 (0pc) and 387 (0pc) votes respectively.

Mutula Jr edged close to his late father’s winning margin of 193,539 votes in the March 4 General Election, despite a 20 percent drop in the voter turnout.

The Wiper Democratic Movement and the wider Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (CORD) fraternity celebrated the win with Wiper Chairman David Musila terming it “inevitable.”

“When they managed to lock Kethi out they thought they had got the better of us. But they only succeeded in bringing Makueni residents even more firmly on our side,” he said.

And while the by-election was generally hailed as a success, Mutula Jr’s win did not sit well with a number of the four candidates he contested against.

“I will not go as far as petitioning his win but I will say it is unfair and against the law that he was nominated just six days to the by-election while the rest of us were required to adhere to the 21 day requirement,” Kitundu told Capital FM News.

The jubilation may last for the night but a shadow of continued courtroom wrangles hangs over Mutula Jr’s success with Mwau threatening to petition his win on account of the prominence the affixation of his details on the ballot paper gave him.

Former politician Agnes Ndetei has already filed a Notice of Appeal with the High Court on the grounds that Wiper should not have been allowed to nominate another candidate following the lock out of Kethi Kilonzo.

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About The Author

OLIVE BURROWS

With a decade of storytelling under her belt, Olive Burrows has been with Capital FM for the last four years and perhaps most notably interviewed US President Barack Obama. Committed to asking the hard questions and telling the story in the most engaging way possible, she has also interviewed Melinda Gates, a UK Minister and severally had the opportunity to sit across from President Uhuru Kenyatta and address the pressing issues of the day. Other notables she has had occasion to seek answers from are UN Secretary General António Guterres and John Kerry in his time as US Secretary of State.

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