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2017 KENYA ELECTIONS

Mbugua quits Jubilee Kamukunji race, says ‘Hassan tosha’

Mbugua said he’s backed out of the race on the advice of the party leadership/FILE

NAIROBI, Kenya, May 4 – Simon Mbugua who was declared winner of Jubilee Party primaries for the Kamukunji parliamentary seat has stepped down for incumbent Member of Parliament Yusuf Hassan.

Mbugua said Thursday he had taken the decision after abandoning his defence at the party’s Appeals Tribunal after consultation with the Jubilee leadership.

“As a gesture of goodwill and after consultations with the party leadership at the highest level, I have today decided to stop any further litigation at the Jubilee Party Appeals Tribunal or at the Political Parties Tribunal,” Mbugua said at party headquarters in Pangani.

He implored his supporters to rally behind the incumbent adding that their support for President Uhuru Kenyatta is critical to the party.

“Of course my thousands of supporters will be extremely disappointed to hear this decision but I want to say thank you to them and request them to see the bigger picture,” Mbugua said.

According to Mbugua, a former director of the NGO Coordination Board, the Somali minority from which Hassan comes from too have a place in leadership adding that communities perceived as minorities in the country should also be given an opportunity to lead.

He called of the Hassan’s supporters to vote for the party leader Uhuru Kenyatta in reciprocation to his act of goodwill.

A former representative of the Kamukunji constituency in the National Assembly, Mbugua had cited appeals from the residents as a reason for his resignation saying he was making a comeback to politics to improve their livelihoods.

“The people of Kamukunji once gave me the chance to serve them. I am also coming to ask them to give me a chance so I can still serve them,” he said in his resignation letter early in the year.

While filling the appeal, the current MP claimed that he had won the election with over 6,000 votes having won in 11 out of 16 polling stations.

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However, the official tally for Kamukunji was not released to the media.

In 2013, Mbugua narrowly lost to Hassan in PNU primaries in an election held under tight security.

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