Nakuru Governor Kinuthia Mbugua to vie as an independent

Kinuthia Mbugua claimed that the nomination documents he had intended to use as evidence at the Jubilee election dispute resolution tribunal were burned at the party offices in Nakuru County. (Photo: Kipsang Joseph, Standard)

It is now official; Nakuru Governor Kinuthia Mbugua will seek a second term as an independent candidate.

Mr Mbugua, who lost in the Jubilee primaries to former Nakuru town MP Lee Kinyanjui, claimed that the nomination documents he had intended to use as evidence at the Jubilee election dispute resolution tribunal were burned at the party offices in Nakuru County.

Mbugua becomes the third politician in the county to declare that he would contest the governorship in the August 8 General Election as an independent candidate.

Another loser in the party primaries, John Mututho, who was third in the race for the party ticket, will also be in the race as an independent candidate.

Senator James Mungai is the third independent candidate in the race that is likely to be hotly contested.

Monday, after visiting the Jubilee Party headquarters in Pangani, Nairobi, Mbugua expressed his frustration, saying his petition had not been listed for hearing by the tribunal.

He described the Jubilee Party nominations as a sham, saying the exercise was marred with malpractices that the election board ignored.

"It is clear the party primaries for the county were rigged and marred with irregularities and did not reflect the will of the people. That is why I will stand for the same seat as an independent candidate," he told journalists.

He claimed that the total votes cast for the governorship seat exceeded those of senator and woman representative combined.