Independent candidate Feisal Bader was declared the winner of the Msambweni Parliamentary seat by the Independent Boundaries and Electoral Commission (IEBC) on Wednesday morning, December 16.
Bader garnered 15251 votes, beating ODM’s Omar Boga who came second with 10,444 votes.
IEBC Returning Officer Yusuf Abubakar issued Feisal with a certificate amid cheers from DP Ruto allies.
“I declare Feisal Abder as the winner and the elected MP for Msambweni Constituency,” Abubakar stated.
The independent candidate led from the time IEBC started tallying the votes from 129 polling stations in the constituency. Feisal succeeded his uncle, Suleiman Dori who passed away on Monday, March 9.
On Tuesday, December 15, the election was marred by fracas and claims of voter bribery. Former Machakos Senator Johnstone Muthama was arrested in the melee as Lungalunga MP Abdalla Mwashetani narrowly escaped arrest.
Ruto’s ally and politician Mohammed Tenge was captured on camera slapping a civilian believed to be an ODM supporter in the Msambweni constituency.
The win is a boost for DP Ruto and his allies who went against the official Jubilee party line that opted to support ODM’s candidate.
Jubilee did not field a candidate in line with the handshake deal between ODM leader Raila Odinga and President Uhuru Kenyatta. ODM’s Boga was also viewed as a handshake candidate after Kenyatta met and supported Boga’s aspirations.
In Kisumu North, the ODM party clinched the ward seat after its candidate Dede Samuel Otieno garnered 4566 votes from 30 polling stations in a by-election also held on Tuesday, December 15.
Independent candidate Odero Daniel Osala came second with 1,212, followed by Hannington Ago of the Movement for Democracy and Growth (MDG) who got 835 votes.
