Jubilee and ODM to face off in mini poll

ODM will fight tooth and nail to retain the Mosiro Ward seat during the October 26 by-election.

This was one of the only two seats the Orange party had in the county assembly before area MCA Peter Kurrinyo died.

ODM’s other seat is Magadi. Jubilee has 23 MCAs.

And both Jubilee Party and ODM had vowed to give each other a run for their money in the race to capture the seat.

Jubilee’s Jonathan Koroine, who lost to the late Kurrinyo by 68 votes in the last polls, will square it out with Mr Peter Tirishe of ODM.

Both candidates have already been cleared to contest the seat setting the stage for a month-long campaigns.

Jubilee side, led by former Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph ole Lenku and a Dr Solomon Kinyanjui have vowed to ensure the ruling coalition snatches the seat from the Opposition. Both Lenku and Kinyanjui are eyeing the governor’s seat in next year’s elections.

“We are aware that this is a serious assignment and we are up to the task. We will try our best to deliver the first seat to our new party,” Kinyanjui told The Standard.

Lenku said: ‘’We do not want to see a repeat of what happened during the Kajiado Central parliamentary by-election where the Government lost to the Opposition even after directing all its machinery to the constituency. This time round, we are not leaving anything to chance.”

Much stronger

“We are the team to beat. We have the experience and we are more stronger after bringing other communities on board,” added Lenku .

But the ODM brigade, led by Governor David Nkedianye has promised to hand the ruling coalition another humiliating defeat.

The governor said they will not be intimidated by government machinery or propaganda in their quest to retain the seat.

“We beat them in Kajiado Central and we are going to do it again in Mosiro. No amount of intimidation will stop us,” said Nkedianye.

The Kajiado Central seat fell vacant after area MP Joseph Nkaisserry was appointed Interior Cabinet Secretary.

The resultant by-election made the constituency a battle ground between the Government and the Opposition. Elijah Memusi (ODM) garnered 16,008 votes to trounce Patrick Tutui (Jubilee Alliance Party), who had 15,508 votes.

An independent candidate, Mr Kuntai Nkashuma, was a distant third with 100 votes.

The Mosiro by-election will also present President Uhuru Kenyatta’s newly launched Jubilee Party a chance to gauge its popularity ahead of next year’s General Election.

Meanwhile, Kajiado East MP Peris Tobiko has refuted claims she had decamped to ODM. The first Maasai women elected MP said she has no plans to join the Opposition.

She was reacting to reports she is planning to join ODM due to her perceived support for Nkedianye of ODM.