Cecily Mbarire defeats former Senator Lenny Kivuti to Clinch Embu governor Seat

EMBU, Kenya, Aug 13 – The United Democratic Alliance (UDA) gubernatorial candidate in Embu Cecily Mbarire has clinched the seat, defeating former Senator Lenny Kibuti in a hotly contested race.

Kivuti who made his first stab at the seat in 2017 and was defeated by outgoing governor Martin Wambora who garnered 105,246 while Mbarire got 108,610.

Mbarire, the governor elect while thanking her supporters for helping her to get votes in the whole county, said that she looks forward to serving the great people of Embu in a big way and to make it a true land of opportunity.

“I want to thank everyone who helped me traverse the whole county looking for votes and I look forward to serving the people of Embu in a big way and making Embu a true land of opportunity,” said Mbarire.

She also thanked Embu residents for having confidence in her and electing her as the first female governor of Embu.

“I want to thank the great people of Embu county for having confidence in me and for electing the first female governor in Embu county, I feel very humbled,” she said.

She commended the multi-agency security team for providing security throughout the election process and the IEBC for delivering a free, just and credible election.

“I want to thank the security agencies here in the county who have made sure that we manage to get through the whole process without major challenges, who have made sure that there was peace and calm throughout the county and IEBC for delivering a free, just and credible election.

Njage Kumatha who vied on Development Party (DP) an affiliate party of Kenya Kwanza garnered 1,676 votes out of 219,317 tallied votes while 3,780 votes were rejected.

Former head of radio at Wimwaro FM and UDA women representative aspirant Pamela Njoki Njeru clinched the women representative seat after garnering 141,107 votes and her closest competitor Catherine Njiru Wanja getting 16,822 votes out of 334,302 total voters in Embu.