NAIVASHA, Kenya, Apr 20 – Naivasha Member of Parliament Jane Kihara got a reprieve after she narrowly clinched the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party ticket during the repeat exercise.
The new twist came after the former MP John Kihagi won the party ticket during the first round of the Primaries and was issued with the certificate, but the results were later nullified on claims the exercise was flawed.
The UDA Elections Disputes Resolution Committee (EDRC) overturned Kihagi’s win, after finding that Kihara garnered 9,904 against her 9,903 in the hotly contested party primaries held on Thursday last week.
Kihara had lodged an appeal to the party following allegations of electoral malpractices during last week’s nominations that saw Kihagi announced the winner.
While addressing residents of Naivasha town after receiving the certificate, Kihara who is serving her second term hailed the UDA disputes resolution committee for a fair hearing following her successful petition.
Initial results from the April 14 exercise indicated that John Kihagi had beaten the sitting MP after garnering 10,394 votes while Kihara got 9, 991 votes forcing her to storm out of the tallying centre amidst rigging allegations.
Kihara added that the nominations were marred with irregularities with claims of voter bribery as well as stuffing of ballots in some polling centres all in favor of Kihagi.
In her acceptance speech, Kihara called upon Kihagi to concede defeat and join hands with her to consolidate the Naivasha voting block for UDA.
She however accused Nakuru senator Susan Kihika for interfering with constituency politics by allegedly supporting Kihagi to clinch the UDA parliamentary ticket for the forthcoming general elections to unseat her.
Speculations were rife over the rivalry in UDA with Kihika accused of being a jubilee mole by favouring sections of aspirants an issue Hon. Jayne described it as detrimental to the party’s unity.
Supporters of the incumbent thronged the streets of Naivasha town to celebrate the new turn of events saying justice had been finally served.
The next course of action for Kihagi is unclear following the nullification of his bid to succeed Kihara after several attempts to reach him on mobile went unanswered.
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