President Uhuru Kenyatta kicked out government officials and Jubilee leaders who went to State House to explain the Juja, Kiambu and Rurii, Nyandarua by-election losses.
The Standard on Thursday, May 20, quoted its sources in the Presidency indicating that Uhuru was on Wednesday angered by the outcomes of the results especially after losing to Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria in the Juja by-election.
Kuria’s candidate George Koimburi was declared the new Juja MP after trouncing Jubilee’s Susan Njeri Waititu. Koimburi vied via the People’s Empowerment Party (PEP).
In Rurii, UDA candidate Francis Muraya defeated Jubilee’s Peter Thinji. Uhuru was upset by losing to his deputy William Ruto in several by-elections in the past months considering that the duo’s relationship is broken.
“He chased everyone away at State House. He ordered them to leave and go home as they had not provided enough explanation as to why they lost the by-elections.
“The President argued that the officials should have done enough research and homework before pushing Jubilee to contest in the elections,” one source narrated to the daily.
Uhuru was reported to have further called Jubilee Secretary General Raphael Tuju and Vice-Chairman David Murathe and blamed them for the Jubilee loss. The President read the riot act to the two party leaders via a phone call.
“He was unhappy and blamed Murathe, Tuju, his advisers and government administrators for the loss, telling them that he never wanted to see them in the next coming days.
“The President couldn’t understand why Murathe and Tuju kept claiming that they were rigged out yet the election was done publicly, same as the vote tallying,” sources alleged adding that Uhuru was angered by the police brutality witnessed at the elections.
On Wednesday, May 19, ODM alluded to revisiting the handshake after several of its members were arrested in Bonchari, Kisii, in a by-election they won. Former Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) Director-General Pavel Oimeke defeated UDA’s Teresa Bitutu and Jubilee’s Zebedeo Opore.
“What we have witnessed in the by-elections in Bonchari and Juja is an abuse of police powers and an arrogant display of impunity by a few overzealous and bellicose government functionaries,” ODM Party Leader Raila Odinga stated in his statement.
“We want an equal playground for all contestants. We will not accept to be in partnership with parties such as Jubilee yet they are the ones using state resources to undermine us,” Secretary-General Edwin Sifuna added.
Murathe, Tuju and Jubilee officials have not responded to ODM’s lamentation, instead, they chose to focus on their losses and restoring Uhuru’s trust.
“This is politics my friend; Bonchari, for example, was not our seat, it was a PDP seat; the region is dominated by ODM and it won, what is the big deal?” Murathe argued.
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