Peter Mbogho Shake, a political newcomer, of the Jubilee Party is the Mwatate Member of Parliament-elect after garnering 11,317 votes out of a total of 26, 921 votes cast in all 105 polling stations across the constituency.
Mbogho, popularly known as Shake, is a businessman and a philanthropist in Taita Taveta County who decided to give the Mwatate parliamentary seat a stab and ended up winning.
Coming in second was Christopher Mwadime Mwambingu of ODM, who polled 5,953 votes despite putting up a vigorous campaign to edge out the soft-spoken Shake.
Upon declaration of his win, Shake took a thanksgiving lap of Mwatate town, showing gratitude to his supporters who had followed his convoy with others cheering along the streets.
“This win is not mine, it’s all yours. You’ve shown me love and I’ll reciprocate that by doing the job you’ve given me,” said the elated Shake.
Others in the race were Morris Kiwinda Mbondenyi and Harrison Mchana who got 2,257 and 1,781 votes respectively.
A contestant of interest in the Mwatate MP race was Majala Delina Mlagui, the outgoing Taita Taveta County deputy governor, who after falling out with her county boss, Granton Samboja, decided to try the MP seat. She managed to get 1,690 votes, coming a distant fifth in the race.
Shake will be taking the constituency reins from Andrew Mwadime, formerly of ODM, but who is now vying for the gubernatorial seat as an independent candidate.
The newcomer politician promised to get down to business and make proud all of his electorate without favor or discrimination.
“The job is cut out for me and I’ll serve everyone equally and fairly. Let’s settle down and get the work done,” said the incoming lawmaker.
By Arnold Linga Masila