President Uhuru Kenyatta hails Kibra by-election as example of the good fruits of the handshake

Uhuru hails Kibra by-election as example of the good fruits of the handshake

Tony Mukere

November 15, 2019 4:46 PM

Uhuru breaks silence on Kibra

President Uhuru Kenyatta hails Kibra by-election as example of the good fruits of the handshake

President Uhuru Kenyatta on Friday hailed the recently concluded by-election as an example of the good fruits of the handshake between him and ODM Leader Raila Odinga.

President Kenyatta mentioned the by-election during the publicized meeting with Mt Kenya leaders at the State Lodge in Sagana.

The President stated that although his party's candidate, McDonald Mariga, was defeated - the exercise went on peacefully because of the handshake.

The Jubilee Party Leader said the biggest win in Kibra was the fact that different political parties were allowed to compete and sell their different policies in peace - noting that the area would have in the past featured a very violent clash of political parties and personalities.

Mariga conceded defeat in the November 7th by-election, congratulating ODM candidate Imran Okoth who emerged the winner.

Despite the concession, Deputy President William Ruto has led his cronies in insisting that Jubilee would have won the election but was defeated because of violence meted out on his party's supporters.

The Kibra campaigns had gone on smoothly although there were isolated incidents of some politicians being roughed up after they were allegedly found buying votes.

The statement by President Kenyatta was in sharp contrast to the message coming from Ruto's camp.

The DP, in particular, has over the past week made over ten tweets decrying what he termed as violence by Odinga during the Kibra by-election.

Ruto's allies have called on President Kenyatta to dissolve the handshake in light of the developments in Kibra.

However, in clear defiance to the message from the Ruto camp - the President asked Mt Kenya leaders to support the handshake - reiterating that he was well aware of what he was doing.

Tony Mukere