The widow of Juja Member of Parliament Francis Waitutu has scored a double boost ahead of Jubilee primaries tomorrow.
Yesterday, senior Kiambu Kenya Post-Primary Education Teachers Union (Kuppet) and Kenya Women Teachers Association (Kewota) branch officials vowed to throw their weight behind Susan Njeri ahead of Saturday’s nomination exercise.
The Kuppet and Kewota officials pledged to mobilise their colleagues and parents in Juja to support Njeri’s bid to capture the seat.
Led by Kuppet Kiambu County chairperson Rose Kiiru and Kewota coordinator Irene Githinji, the teachers said Njeri was best suited to succeed her husband and complete his projects, especially in the education sector. Kiiru said Njeri has what it takes to lead Juja given that she was in charge of the constituency office and its operations when her husband was taken ill over three years ago.
Githinji urged teachers in the constituency to turn out in large numbers and vote for Njeri during the Jubilee nominations tomorrow.
At the same time, Waititu’s firstborn son Michael Munyua declared he was supporting his mother, thereby quelling rumours that he was going to oppose her.
He said he has confidence that Njeri will comfortably fit into their late father’s shoes and added that the family supports her quest.
Munyua spoke amid speculation that he was going to back one of his stepmother’s opponents over an alleged family feud. He was accompanied by two of his sisters, Terry Njeri and Christine Munyua.
The Juja parliamentary seat by-elections are slated for May 18.
However, the upcoming nomination exercise has been characterised by tension and anxiety, with aspirants appealing to the party officials to guarantee fairness.
The ruling party nominations is a do-or-die for the aspirants seeking its ticket and each is racing against time to traverse the constituency to popularise themselves and sell their policies.
Speaking separately, the aspirants called for free and fair nominations and pledged to support whoever wins the nomination. They also warned the party leadership against imposing any candidate on the people.
The contenders said the party leadership should let democracy prevail in the primaries and told leaders from outside Juja to keep off the by-election.
Apart from Njeri, others seeking Jubilee ticket include Kiambu county government Education executive Joseph Kang’ethe, Naftaly Muiga Rugara, Anthony Kirori, and J M Kariuki.
