Imenti North MP Rahim Dawood has floored his competitors in the just concluded general elections to secure a third term in the National Assembly.
Dawood who contested the seat as an Independent candidate managed 26,218 votes with his closest competitor Carol Karimi Muriuki of Mbus party and a daughter to former Imenti North MP Silas Muriuki garnering 14, 528 votes.
Halima Mucheke of United Democratic alliance (UDA) became third with 10,491 votes.
Other contestants were Julius Murega (TSP) with 4,610 votes, Ken Muriuki (Independent) 2,960 votes, and Beatrice Karwitha (Jubilee) 1,223.
Earlier on, tallying of the votes at Kaaga MCK tallying Centre was interrupted for about 15 minutes after Dawood’s opponents stormed the Centre demanding that the announcement of the results be stopped on allegations that the incumbent had engaged in voter bribery.
They also demanded a recount of the votes arguing that the total number of votes casted for the MP’s seat were more than those casted for other candidates.
However, constituency returning officer Caren Mwangi did not listen to them but said recounting of the votes could only be ordered by a court of law.
Addressing the media after receiving his certificate, Dawood ruled out complaints from his opponents arguing that they were doing so from a point of ignorance.
“Initially they claimed that the presidential votes casted in the constituency were 30,000 and those for the MPs were 50,000. They now have nothing to say after IEBC announcing that the total number of casted votes were equal for all the competitive seat,” he said.
He said he was now focusing on continuing with his development agenda in the constituency and that he was ready for a court battle if his opponents were willing to take that route.
“We had many unfinished projects some of which we had budgeted for and this is the agenda we want to embark on immediately,” said Dawood. He also promised to work closely with all the elected leaders for the sake of region’s prosperity.
By Dickson Mwiti
