Polls opened as early as 6 am to residents of Matungu and London ward by elections as IEBC kickstarted the process to fill in the vacant seats. – By Gerald Gekara.
Matungu ward was led by MCA Patrick Murunga who succumbed to suspected COVID-19 complications, while London Ward seat was held by Samuel Mbugua who also passed on in a grisly road accident.
The two vaccant posts have seen dynamic shifts in political activity. Despite London Ward being a jubilee playground, Deputy President William Ruto deployed teams allied to the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) to de-stablize Jubilee influence.
However, Nakuru East MP Samwel Arama was confident that the vote would go in Jubilee’s favor, thwarting claims of another Msambweni win in the region.
“London Ward is Jubilee zone and whatever happened in Msambweni has no room. London Ward is not Msambweni. I am a Jubilee leader and I will work to ensure we retain the seat” he said.
In Matungu, the ANC party is confident of a win, despite claims of rigging fronted by its party leader Musalia Mudavadi.
Mudavadi had claimed that some county staff had sneaked through the IEBC system to become officials in the by-elections.
Currently, 15 candidates are up to replace the Late Murunga. The race has devolved into a three horse race, pitting; Peter Nabulindo (Amani National Congress), Alex Lanya (United Democratic Alliance) and David Were (ODM) against each other.
Others include Charles Kasamani (United Democratic Party), Paul Achayo (Movement for Democracy and Growth) and Faida Auma (Maendeleo (Chap Chap).
