Monday, June 10, 2013

Nduku's bid for Makueni senate seat suffers setback

Mrs Nduku Kilonzo has said she will vie for the Makueni senate seat which fell vacant after the death of her husband Mutula Kilonzo. Photo/BILLY MUTAI
Mrs Nduku Kilonzo has said she will vie for the Makueni senate seat which fell vacant after the death of her husband Mutula Kilonzo. Photo/BILLY MUTAI  NATION MEDIA GROUP
By BOB ODALO bodalo@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted  Monday, June 10  2013 at  16:12
Mutula Kilonzo widow’s bid to run for the Makueni seat on a Jubilee ticket has suffered a blow. Read (Nduku Kilonzo joins race for senate seat)
The coalition plans to field a candidate under its constituent party Narc, but the party’s new leader Kiema Kilonzo said Mrs Nduku Kilonzo was not their candidate.
“We have already settled on former Kibwezi MP Philip Kaloki. The deadline for parties to identify candidates was last Wednesday and Mrs Kilonzo’s name was not among the ones I presented to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission last week,” he told theNation in a telephone interview.
He added that parties in the alliance had agreed to back only one candidate for the seat.
“As far as I am concerned, Prof Kaloki is our man in the July 22 battle,” Mr Kiema said.
He denied claims that a disagreement between the main parties in the coalition over the by-election could have brought Mrs Kilonzo in the picture.
“I don’t see any discomfort among Jubilee partners because we are finished with what the IEBC had asked us to do by June 5,” he said.
On Sunday, Mrs Kilonzo stunned many when she threw her hat in the ring for the seat during a church service attended by President Uhuru Kenyatta in Machakos.
During her announcement at Our Lady of Lourdes Cathedral, Mrs Kilonzo was introduced to the congregation by Lands Cabinet Secretary Charity Ngilu— the former leader of Narc.
It was this that made many to conclude that she was warming up to Narc.
He entry in the race pits her against her step-daughter Kethi Kilonzo who is running on a Cord alliance ticket.
The timing of Mrs Kilonzo’s announcement has remained the talk of the town.
The fact that she chose to make her stand known at a function at which President Kenyatta was the chief guest made critics to suggest that she was being groomed by the ruling coalition.
MPs associated with the Cord have pledged support for Ms Kethi’s candidature.

No comments:

Post a Comment