Top CORD leaders rally support for Kalembe Ndile as rival embarks on door-to-door vote hunt

By ONESMUS NZIOKA

KENYA, KIBWEZI: The contest for the Kibwezi West parliamentary seat has gone a notch higher ahead of Thursday by-election.

Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (CORD), keen to capture the seat, has pitched camp in the constituency since Tuesday with different high ranking officials campaigning for its candidate Kalembe Ndile.

Though the contest is largely between CORD’s Ndile and Patrick Musimba, an independent candidate, and Juliana Kisimbi of PICK, it has largely played out as a CORD-Jubilee affair.

“I can tell you this is a fight between us and them CORD and Jubilee). From head to toe, Musimba is nothing but Jubilee and if you vote for him, you deny us the numbers in Parliament to counter the ‘tyranny of numbers’, said Machakos Senator Johnstone Muthama at Mbuinzau market on Saturday.

“Jubilee is targeting to increase its tyranny of numbers by purporting to stay out of the Kibwezi West by-election while we know they are behind Musimba. Please vote for Kalembe to help us counter the likes of Aden Duale in Parliament,” said Nairobi Deputy Governor Jonathan Mueke.

Musimba has on the other hand embarked on a door-to-door campaign with the support of teachers, county representatives and several community leaders.

Musimba, who is fighting to regain the seat he lost after the High Court nullified his election, has worked overtime to avoid the media, terming it an agent of propaganda.

“I refuse to get entangled in politics of insults. I am here to tell the people of Kibwezi where we shall walk to if they accord me the mandate to lead them,” he said when The Standard caught up with him.

Young vs old

Those close to Musimba are, however, painting the campaign as a contest between the young, educated generation against the old folks seeking power for the sake of it.

Kalembe has dismissed this ideology saying: “Representation in Parliament is not all about degrees. It is about articulation of issues to help the ordinary Kenyan improve their lives, and that is what I stand for.”

The battle between Ndile and Musimba has completely overshadowed the third contestant, Juliana Kisimbi, who has had a low-key campaign. Kisimbi believes she has what it takes to beat the other two on Thursday.