The People’s Empowerment Party (PEP) associated with Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria appears to be a proxy to Deputy President William Ruto for the Juja by-election.
The party is fielding George Koimburi, considered as one of the serious contenders in the mini poll, after ditching the ruling party Jubilee for (PEP) last Sunday.
Kuria’s party has already settled for Koimburi, who came second in the 2017 Juja constituency election. Koimburi is one of the more than 10 aspirants for the seat that fell vacant following the death of Francis Munyua Waititu ‘Wakapee’. The by-election is slated for May 18.
The United Democratic Alliance (UDA) associated with the DP abruptly pulled out of the race after initially indicating it would sponsor a candidate, only for Kuria’s party PEP to give its ticket to Koimburi.
Kuria is one of Ruto’s close allies. Reached for comment, the outspoken MP who represents President Uhuru Kenyatta’s rural home constituency said he is not fronting anyone in the Juja by-election and that he is only trying his luck in politics.
“People may say anything, but I will let them be. I am only advancing my party and my agenda.
Hii ni soko huru (this is democracy),” Kuria said when asked whether his decision doesn’t bring him on a collision course with the President with Juja considered as a gateway to his rural home.
Waititu’s widow, Susan, will now face off with at least three other aspirants for the Jubilee party ticket in primaries scheduled for Saturday.
Other contestants eyeing the Jubilee ticket are Naftaly Rugara Muiga, a lecturer at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, former Kiambu Education Minister Joseph Ng’ang’a, and businessman Anthony Kirori.
The rest are independent aspirants among them 32-year-old medical doctor Joseph Gichui who is the youngest in the crowded race.
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