It was a competitive by-election marked with a show of might. In Kasipul Kabondo, the region that has been politically charged, tensions were witnessed. Homabay town MP Peter Kaluma was roughed up by rowdy youths, and his bodyguard’s ammunition was stolen.
The ammunition was later recovered. In the end, Boyd Were was declared the winner against his fiercest rival, Philip Aroko. IEBC declared Were the MP-elect after garnering 16,819 votes against his closest competitor, Philip Aroko, who got 8,476 votes on an independent ticket
The ODM party leadership celebrated their win in different regions where they clinched various seats.
“Congratulations to the entire ODM team that delivered wins for Boyd Were in Kasipul, Moses Omondi in Ugunja, Harry Kombe in Magarini and the McA seat in Nanam Ward in Turkana West Constituency. Well done!” Sifuna wrote on Twitter.
The ruling party, UDA under the leadership of the incumbent president William Ruto, has received a resounding defeat in Nyamira County in the recently concluded by-elections.
In Ekerenyo ward, Nyamira North Constituency, Jeremiah Ongaro of UPA garnered 3,507 votes to win against Francis Amenya of UDA, who came in second with 2,292 votes.
In Nyansiongo, a stiff competition played out as Jackson Mogusu of PDP garnered 2,759, which placed him slightly ahead of the second runner-up, Kevin Marang’a of UPA, who garnered 2,687 votes.
In Nyamaiya, Christopher Osiemo of UPA earned a thunderous win after garnering 4,790 votes against his UDA rival Thomas Nyandieka, who garnered 1,357 votes.
UDA emerged victorious in Mbeere North after Leonard Wamuthende garnered 15,802 votes. In Malava, David Ndiakwa of UDA was declared MP-elect after garnering 21,564 votes against DAP-K’s Seth Panyako, who garnered 20,210 votes. In Turkana, John Namesek was declared the winner in the Lake Zone ward after garnering 3,559 votes.
Critics accused the UDA government of using state machinery and resources to run a public campaign in their favour.
“Parliament should consider REPEALING Public Officers’ Ethics Act if the UDA government is to continue using public officers and resources for political campaigns and elections.”, said Alfred Amenya.
Based on the outcome, the Broad-Based Government clinched the majority of the seats in the by-elections, which many leaders affiliated with the United Opposition and netizens have condemned as shambolic.
“President Ruto + broad-based team have performed very well in the just concluded by elections. I have my own reservations of some of the newly elected leaders; but that doesn’t matter; THIS IS HOW DEMOCRACY WORKS. There is still a lot of work to be done to secure our democracy.”, Alfred Amenya wrote on Twitter.
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