Julius Mawathe triumphs in NASA siblings contest

Julius Mawathe who vied on a Wiper Party ticket has been the winner of the mini-poll with 21,628 votes. [File, Standard]

Wiper’s Julius Mawathe has won the Embakasi South parliamentary by-election, IEBC Returning Officer Abdullahi Ahmed has announced.

Mawathe trounced his closest rival ODM’s Irshad Sumra by 13,640 votes.

According to the results sheet seen by Standard Digital, Mawathe garnered 21,628 votes while Irshad Sumra got 7,988.

Other contestants were Ramesh Gorassia (323), Zablon Rashid (321), Urbanus Kalumba (119), Alexander Mulatya (97), Samwel Masaki (49), Jairus Musyoka (36), Angela Nyalita (35) and Peter Ogeta (26).

Others were Credius Oigara (21), Augustine Kavindu (13), Roseline Awino (16), Enos Nyakweba (four) and Enoch Nyaribori who had no votes.

The election was the aftermath of a succession petition by former MP Sumra who challenged Mawathe’s 2017 victory.

The Supreme Court nullified the election on December 21, 2018.

Conceding early

Sumra conceded defeat in the mini poll before results from half of the polling stations were announced.

He congratulated Mawathe who by 12am was leading with 4,450 votes. Sumra had garnered 1,901 votes.

The ODM candidate said he was ready to work with the incoming MP.

The inter-party rivalry between ODM and Wiper stalked the two into yesterday’s polls.

Despite having been united in the past under National Super Alliance (NASA), the mini poll set them apart during campaigns.

ODM leader Raila Odinga with Irshard Sumra at a past campaign at Mukuru kwa Reuben, Embakasi. [File, Standard]

While Opposition leader Raila Odinga campaigned for Sumra, his Wiper counterpart Kalonzo Musyoka fronted Mawathe. The two candidates are the front-runners in the by-election.