Kilonzo Jr is now due to present his nomination papers to the Independent Electoral Boundaries Commission in Wote on Saturday morning/MIKE KARIUKI
Wiper Chairman David Musila said the party’s National Executive Committee unanimously settled on Junior to replace Kethi after the High Court found that she is not a registered voter and cannot therefore vie for elective office.
“We want to appreciate that the party has been given an opportunity to field a candidate by the court and on this call the National Executive Committee has just concluded its deliberations and has unanimously approved the nomination of Mutula Kilonzo Junior,” he said.
Musila made a point of assuring the residents of Makueni that Junior is indeed a registered voter given the fate that befell Kethi on account of her unclear voter registration status.
“We have taken all the precautions necessary, we have even visited IEBC (the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission) this afternoon and I have a letter here signed by the chairman Issack Hassan confirming that Mutula Kilonzo Junior ID number 13705756 is a registered voter therefore there will be no monkey business as far as we are concerned,” Musila said.
Junior accepted the nomination but did admit that it was not easy for Wiper to secure his candidature and was eventually persuaded by the pleas of Makueni residents.
“These gentlemen were looking for me in very many places and they found me, they could tell it was not easy but several people including a lot of the voters from that very nice county of Makueni have called me and I want to say this without fear of contradiction, that I am ready for this,” Junior said echoing one of the late Mutula Kilonzo’s favourite phrases.
He was however categorical that his acceptance of the nomination was not an acceptance of politics, “I want to make this absolutely clear for anybody who has some form of doubt in their mind that Mutula Kilonzo Junior is not joining politics. I’m joining leadership.”
And as the Inspector General of Police David Kimaiyo blew the whistle on plans to disrupt the July 26 by-election, Junior called on Makueni residents to maintain peace. “I want to appeal to the people of Kikima who were saying that they will cause this or the other, there is no reason whatsoever to have any form of violence.”
Wiper did not waste any time unveiling Junior as their candidate given the High Court gave them less than 24 hours to nominate a candidate and given only a week is left to the by-election.
And although Kethi lost her bid to vie for the Makueni by-election she has given her brother’s candidature her blessings explaining that politics could never take the place of the law in her life.
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