Independent candidate beats UDA and Wiper candidates to Nguu/Masumba Ward seat

Timothy Maneno is the MCA-elect for Nguu Masumba Ward in Makueni County. [File, Standard]

Independent candidate Timothy Maneno has won the Nguu/Masumba Ward by-election.

Maneno defeated United Democratic Alliance (UDA) candidate Daniel Musau and Wiper candidate Eshio Mwaiwa to the seat. Musau took the second position while Mwaiwa came third.

Maneno got 2,902 votes, Musau (2,219) and Mwaiwa (1,614).

The MCA-elect was being supported by Makueni Governor Kivutha Kibwana.

The Nguu/Masumba Member of County Assembly seat fell vacant after the holder of the post, Harris Ngui Musau, died in a road accident in Mukaa on the Nairobi-Mombasa highway on June 15, 2021.

The MCA’s vehicle, a Toyota Land Cruiser Prado, collided head-on with an oncoming truck, killing the ward representative on the spot.

Ngui, 51, was with another person, a youthful woman identified as Hope Mutheu Kaunda, in the car during the accident. Mutheu, 22, also died at the crash scene.

Nguu/Masumba is one of the 30 wards in Makueni County.

Timothy Maneno, the MCA-elect for Nguu/Masumba Ward, was on the verge of being locked out of the contest after the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) refused to clear him to vie over the aspirant’s alleged failure to produce clearance letters which would facilitate the gazettement of his ballot symbol.

Maneno consequently filed a petition in court on September 9.

On September 20, the court ordered the IEBC to clear the petitioner within 72 hours.