Just a day after belatedly supporting the decision by Jubilee Party to withdraw from the Msamweni by-election, Deputy President William Ruto met Feisal Abdallah Bader, an aspirant in the coming poll.
Mr Bader, alongside other serving legislators from the Coast on Thursday, met the DP at his Karen home in Nairobi. Some of the MPs that accompanied Bader to DP Ruto’s home include Athman Shariff (Lamu East), Mohamed Ali (Nyali), Owen Baya (Kilifi North), Khatib Mwashetani (Lunga Lunga) and Aisha Jumwa (Malindi).
The DP tweet as follows:
Met an aspirant for Msambweni parliamentary seat Feisal Abdallah Bader in company of Coast MPs Athman Shariff (Lamu East), @MohaJichoPevu (Nyali), Owen Baya (Kilifi North), Khatib Mwashetani (Lunga Lunga) and @HonJumwa (Malindi) at Karen, Nairobi County. pic.twitter.com/BrtUyo1gez — William Samoei Ruto, PhD (@WilliamsRuto) September 24, 2020
This comes barely a day after the Jubilee deputy party leader held a press conference at the party headquarters in Pangani, Nairobi, pledging support for the decision to opt for not fielding a candidate in the by-election.
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“We have agreed as a party that we will not field a candidate in Msambweni. This is unfortunate for me and since the decision had been communicated earlier, we will all stand by it,” said Ruto.
Lunga Lunga MP Khatib Mwashetani, Feisal Abdallah Bader (Msambweni aspirant) and Deputy President William Ruto pose for a photo. [Courtesy, Standard]
His statement came two hours after the party Secretary-General Raphael Tuju had announced the decision to skip fielding a candidate in the poll citing new-found relationship with ODM Party.
“With the unprecedented cooperation between Jubilee and ODM in Parliament in the recent past on matters of national importance and given that it was an ODM seat, the decision has been made that Jubilee will not field a candidate in the interest of the bigger picture,” Tuju said.
Present during the DP’s press briefing was Mariam Sharlete, who had decamped from ODM party and had been camping at the party offices to pick her nomination papers only to be bombarded with bad news.
Ruto would then give a hint to the press as he responded to a question stating that there are many aspirants worth supporting in the coming by-election. When asked if he would support Mariam, the DP replied, “if she talks to me nicely”.
“Any candidate, including Mariam here, can seek my support and I will campaign for them, but this will be the last time the party is not fielding a candidate,” said Ruto.
The DP further stated that although he supported the decision of the party, personally he wished the ruling party had a candidate to fight it off with other parties like ODM, Wiper and ANC that are set field their candidates. Nonetheless, he is yet to declare his support for Bader in the coming poll.
The post became vacant after the death of former MP Suleiman Dori early this year.
