Ford Kenya picks candidate for Kabuchai seat

Ford Kenya leader Moses Wetang'ula (right) congratulates Joseph Majimbo on winning the party ticket for Kabuchai by-election. [Benjamin Sakwa]

Joseph Majimbo is the winner of the hotly-contested Ford Kenya primaries in Kabuchai, Bungoma County.

Majimbo garnered 72 votes to beat his closest challenger, Nakuru East Deputy County Commissioner Eric Wanyonyi, who managed 32 votes after intense week-long campaigns.

The party used delegates to vote in the primaries ahead of the March 4 by-elections.

Majimbo will now fly the flag of the lion party that is seeking to retain the Kabuchai parliamentary seat which fell vacant following the death of lawmaker James Lusweti last month after a long illness.

Declaring the results, Ford Kenya director of elections Khadija Mustafa said a total of 105 delegates voted and three votes got spoilt.

Wanyonyi conceded defeat and pledged to support Majimbo to ensure the party recaptures the seat.

“The election was free and fair and I have lost honourably. In any democratic process, we must have a winner and a loser and therefore as a patriot, I will be campaigning for you (Majimbo) so that we (Ford Kenya) retain this seat,” said Wanyonyi.

Ford Kenya leader Moses Wetang’ula thanked Wanyonyi for conceding defeat and appealed to him to be part of the campaign team, saying democracy must be nurtured and supported by everyone.