Gilgil Constituency Member of Parliament (MP) Martha Wangare has retained her seat with 35,363 votes, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has declared.
The MP elect who contested on the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) ticket was followed by Jubilee`s Mathenge Nderitu who garnered 19,764 votes. An Independent candidate Stephen Gatimu garnered 5,357 votes, while William Wachira, another independent candidate managed a measly 428 votes.
Gilgil Constituency IEBC Returning Officer (RO), Mr. Peter Muigai declared the results at Comboni Polytechnic in Gilgil town on Thursday morning and lauded the winner and the other candidates for carrying out orderly and peaceful campaigns.
Muigai said the turnout for the Tuesday General Election stood 65 per cent. Gilgil Constituency has over 130,000 registered voters and 190 polling stations, serving the eight electoral wards.
In her acceptance speech, an elated Martha Wangare thanked the electorate for according her another term to serve them, saying, she will not let them down and will ensure she completes all development projects she has started in the area and more.
“I am grateful to the you people of Gilgil for trusting me again to serve you and I will do my best to articulate all your issues,” Wangare said.
She congratulated the residents for maintaining peace during the electioneering period and Nakuru County voters in at large for making the country proud by voting in many women.
It’s worth noting that Naivasha MP Jayne Kihara and her Njoro counterpart, Charity Kathambi Chepkwony have also retained their seats on UDA tickets. The County is also set to get another women senator in the name of Tabitha Karanja replacing Ms. Susan Kihika who is poised to be the first county woman governor after the duo successfully contested on UDA ticket in the just ended General Election on Tuesday.
Another woman, Irene Njoki is also set to take over as Bahati MP after battling it out with the vocal outgoing MP Kimani Ngunjiri in Tuesday`s election. Njoki vied on Jubilee ticket while Ngunjiri was defending his seat on UDA ticket.
The IEBC also cleared 55 candidates to fight it out for the five seats of Members of the County Assembly (MCAs) in Gilgil Constituency as independents and on various political parties.
But IEBC Chair Wafula Chebukati has said only 16 million voters turned up to cast their ballot. Tallying of votes is still going on in the country for votes cast at all the six levels of political leadership.
By Mabel Keya –Shikuku and Erastus Gichohi
