Saturday, July 27, 2013

Landslide for Mutula Jnr

Wiper's Makueni Senatorial candidate Mutula Kilonzo Jnr moments after casting his vote at Uma Primary School in Mbooni July 26, 2013. PHOTO/JENNIFER MUIRURI
Wiper's Makueni Senatorial candidate Mutula Kilonzo Jnr moments after casting his vote at Uma Primary School in Mbooni July 26, 2013. PHOTO/JENNIFER MUIRURI 
By SATURDAY NATION TEAM newsdesk@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted  Friday, July 26   2013 at  22:36
Wiper Democratic candidate Mutula Kilonzo Jnr is the Makueni senator-elect after he trounced his opponents to emerge victorious in the Friday by-election to fill the seat left vacant by his late father Mutula Kilonzo.
He garnered 163,229 votes, thoroughly whitewashing his closest opponent, Prof Philip Kaloki of NARC who obtained 9,762 votes with all the 914 polling stations reporting.
Party of Independent Candidate (PICK)’s John Harun Mwau was a further third with 6,431 votes, followed by Mr Urbanus Muthoka Katumo, who running on an independent ticket got 517 votes while Labour Party’s Jane Kitundu was fifth with 387 votes in the by-election.
The by-lection had come with controversies after the IEBC Disputes tribunal blocked Kethi Kilonzo from running because she was allegedly not registered voter as required by law.
The High Court upheld the tribunal’s ruling but allowed Wiper to nominate another candidate just a week to the polls, a ruling that left the IEBC in an awkward position since the ballot papers had already been printed.
As a result, IEBC was forced to stick Kilonzo Jnr’s name on the ballot papers to allow him contest the elections.
“This is not a landslide victory, it is a continental shift,” said Mr Kilonzo Jnr as polls suggested he had opened an unassailable lead over his opponents.
He sent an olive branch to his opponents saying that that he wanted to bring every person in Makueni on board to develop Makueni County.
“We must now strengthen leadership of Makueni as well as the leadership of the party. People of Makueni need to synergise. I cannot deliver alone. Leadership means that you bring all on board,” Mr Kilonzo Jnr said.
“IEBC has done what they were required to do. It is not for us to congratulate them for doing their duty,” added the Makueni Senator-elect.
Mr Kilonzo Jnr asked those who may feel aggrieved to go to court. Mr Mwau had indicated he would go to court to challenge the outcome of the by-elections.
“As far as I am concerned I was the one who was disadvantaged because of sticking my name on the ballot. I should be the one going to court but if there is someone who feels aggrieved, they can go to court,” Mr Kilonzo Jnr said.
Kitui senator David Musila, a Wiper member, hailed the win and urged all the contestants in the by-election to unite for the good of the county, "We are very pleased with the results and this has proved the point that this is a Wiper county. Now would like to urge people to end the campaigning and go back to real work."
The mini-poll that kicked off between 6am and 6.30am was marked by low voter turn-out. And though slow, the electronic voter identification kits that failed during the March 4 General Election, largely worked as voters in the vast county elected a successor of Senator Mutula Kilonzo.
All candidates were optimistic of winning the contest even as Mr Mwau accused the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) of favouring Mr Kilonzo Junior.
He claimed the listing of names on the ballot papers was tailored to suit one of the candidates, adding, the IEBC should be sued for presiding over a flawed electoral system. There was nothing to be proud of in the way the election body handled the polls, he said at Tangu Primary School in Kilome constituency, where he voted at 6.45am.
“The sticker in the ballot bearing the particulars of one candidate is bold and conspicuous and definitely favours a certain candidate,” he complained.
The  IEBC was forced to stick the name of Kilonzo Jnr on ballot papers days after they had been printed. The move elicited sharp reactions from both parties.
Mr Kilonzo Jnr, who cast his vote at Uma Primary School in Mbooni constituency, said he was confident of winning the seat to succeed his father. Senator Kilonzo died on April 27.
He said that he had no problem with the way his name was superimposed on the ballot papers.
“At first, I was worried about the position of my name in the ballot paper, but after my supporters have expressed their satisfaction, I believe it will be a free and fair election.” he said, adding, he was impressed with the general voting except for a few hitches, where his name was not found in ballot papers in some polling stations in Kibwezi.
“This is a normal election in Kenya and a normal election would have its own glitches here and there,” he said.
Narc’s Philip Kaloki, who voted at Ngwata Youth Polytechnic shortly after midday, said he was not worried about the poor voter turnout as it was normal in almost all by-elections the world over.
He said he was impressed with how the IEBC organised the by-election to enable people to vote within a very short time.
“This is a political contest. Let the best candidate win… I have done my best in the campaigns and I am hopeful of winning it. But whatever the outcome, lets remain united and keep peace at all times. Let’s show Kenyans that this is our way of doing things,” the former Kibwezi MP said.
Little work to do
In Kibwezi East and West constituencies, a few voters trickled into polling stations at a slow pace.
Polling clerks were left chatting with little work to do as they waited for voters to arrive. In a number of shopping centres, many youths were spotted idling, some playing pool.
Asked whether they would vote, many of them said they would do so later.
Ms Kule Galama Godana, an IEBC commissioner, said they were optimistic that more people would turn up to vote as the day progressed.
Ms Godana said the commission hoped the turnout would reach between 60 and 70 per cent of the registered voters.
“There are no queues here as you can see, but remember this is a by-election. People are not as excited to participate as the real election,” said the commissioner.
Reports by Walter Menya, Dave Opiyo, Benjamin Muindi and Bob Odalo

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