Yellow wave sweeps away Azimio sympathisers

DP William Ruto's banner on display at the Bomas Of Kenya, Nairobi, when he presented his papers to IEBC on June 4, 2022. [Elvis Ogina, Standard]

Governors, key politicians in the Azimio la Umoja Coalition party and long-serving members of Parliament are among the casualties of the United Democratic Alliance party wave in the South and Central Rift region.

Governors Stanley Kiptis of Baringo and his Laikipia counterpart Nderitu Muriithi and Nyandarua's Francis Kimemia were among the casualties of the UDA yellow waves that vanquished a number of seasoned politicians in the General Election.

Former governor Joshua Irungu of UDA party won the Laikipia governorship race with 80,849 votes against Muriithi who had so far managed 37,905 votes.

Mr Kiptis conceded defeat to his predecessor Benjamin Cheboi of UDA, who made a comeback for a second term after losing in 2017. When conceding defeat on Wednesday, Kiptis thanked Baringo residents for giving him chance to lead them for five years. "You the supreme people have spoken, so loud in fact and as a team we oblige," he said in his concession speech.

By the time he was quitting the race, Cheboi had garnered 118,000 votes. Nyandarua Governor Francis Kimemia was on the verge of losing the seat after the UDA candidate Ndirangu Badilisha opened a huge gap between them with 104,298 votes against Kimemia's 33,961./

Kimemia, a long-serving civil servant who before venturing into politics in 2017 had served as the Head of Civil Service, is yet to make any statement after the votes were announced. National Assembly Majority leader Amos Kimunya was another political player who spearheaded the Azimio campaign in the Mt Kenya region, but lost the Kipiriri parliamentary seat.

National Assembly Majority leader Amos Kimunya. [Elvis Ogina,Standard]

Mr Kimunya conceded defeat and thanked voters.

"We appreciate that life is dynamic, shaped by constantly emerging and often surprising circumstances. We did our best for Kipipiri, we are proud of our achievements, and that history will never be erased. The people have however made their choice, and we respect it. We wish them well."

Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly Moses Cheboi was another big casualty in the election. He lost his Kuresoi North parliamentary seat. Cheboi who was vying as an independent candidate garnered 20,395 votes losing the battle to Alfred Mutai of UDA who got 25,365 votes.

Mutai who is the outgoing Sirikwa Ward Rep thanked the residents for supporting him in his first attempt and maintaining peace during and after the elections.

"I am thankful for the peace and tolerance demonstrated by the people of Kuresoi North during this period. It is proof that the area had been wrongly mapped out as a violence hotspot," said Mutai.

[James Munyeki, Daniel Chege and Ben Ahenda]