Nyeri Town MP Ngunjiri Wambugu has welcomed the move made by ruling Jubilee Party not to field a candidate in the fourth coming Msambweni by-election.
The Msambweni parliamentary seat was declared vacant after the death of the occupant Suleiman Dori who passed away on 20th March this year at the Aga Khan Hospital in Mombasa.
In a press briefing today in Nyeri town, Wambugu said that the party cannot make a blanket declaration on fielding a candidate in every by-election.
He disagreed with the Deputy President William Ruto, who is also the deputy party leader, saying that “as a party we cannot make a blanket declaration that we must field a candidate in every by-election. This is not wise”.
Wambugu added, “We must field candidates only where it adds value. Period. We cannot field candidates for the sake of it, and certainly not to test our political strength. We are the ruling party with the support of other Parties in Parliament. We do not need to prove anything to anyone,” stated Ngunjiri.
This was after Deputy President William Ruto said that the party should present one candidate to run for the parliamentary seat.
The Msambweni parliamentary seat by-election bears similarities with the Kibra parliamentary seat contest in 2019 where Jubilee got slightly over 5,000 votes against ODM’s 22,000 votes.
Wambugu stated that Jubilee fielding a candidate would only strain the relationship between them and ODM making the two parties compete for one political seat.
Ngunjiri noted that by abstaining from the Msambweni by-election the Jubilee party would achieve its agenda fully for this is not a time for political competition, showmanship or brinkmanship.
The legislator further said that the decision by the party not to field a candidate was smart, and added it has also saved the party from wasting resources in a competition that it cannot win.
By Beth Ndirangu
