NAIROBI, Kenya, Sep 20 – Martha Karua\’s Narc Kenya has made a major political statement after clinching two parliamentary seats in the three by-elections conducted on Monday.
Political novice Gidion Mbuvi, popularly known as Mike Sonko floored favourite political heavyweights Reuben Ndolo of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) and Party of National Unity (PNU)\’s Dick Wathika in Makadara.
Sonko garnered 19,913 votes ahead of Mr Ndolo who managed 17,652 votes. Immediate former MP Wathika trailed the leader by more than 10,000 votes, registering 11,088.
In Juja, William Kabogo has proven a point against George Thuo, beating him by more than 25,000 votes. Mr Kabogo garnered 45,020 ahead of Kenya National Congress candidate Alice Nganga\’s 24,326.
Mr Thuo finished the race third with 19,366.
Elsewhere, Bishop Margaret Wanjiru redeemed her glory after beating Maina Kamanda in Starehe.
She has made a comeback with the approval of 29,287 voters. Mr Kamanda who had ousted her through a court petition only managed 25,416 votes.
For the first time in Kenya\’s history, voters were able to track the results of an election and get the full numbers in less than five hours after the end of the voting exercise.
The Interim Independent Electoral Commission has since its establishment invested heavily in the latest technology to ensure real-time results.
Commissioner Davis Chirchir who is in charge of IT at the commission says days of waiting for results the whole night after voting are long gone.
“We made sure that the results are also available via our website in real time,” he said.
The by-election results will definitely go down well with Narc Kenya\’s supporters following their double win in Juja and Makadara.
The flower party had a strong contender in William Kabogo of Juja and it has also produced the upset of the year with the victory in Makadara.
It is a more telling victory for party leader Martha Karua who is solidifying her political base in Nairobi and Central province where she faces other bigwigs like Uhuru Kenyatta and Peter Kenneth.
Mr Kenyatta had strongly campaigned for George Thuo in Juja where Peter Kenneth had thrown his weight behind Alice Nganga of Kenya National Congress.
In Makadara, Mr Kenyatta campaigned for Dick Wathika while ODM\’s Reuben Ndolo got the visible support of Prime Minister Raila Odinga, his deputy Musalia Mudavadi and other top party guns.
Narc Kenya and Ms Karua went all out for their candidates in both constituencies.
Access the full results from the IIEC here.
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