Joy and anger as Jubilee picks aspirants for Isiolo

Nairobi County Assembly Majority Leader Abdi Guyo [File, Standard]

Jubilee Party has finally settled on nominees for elective seats in Isiolo after weeks of meetings in Nairobi.

This comes after rival factions led by Nairobi County Assembly Majority Leader Abdi Guyo and former governor Godana Doyo failed to reach a consensus. The aspirants were issued with their nomination certificates at the Jubilee headquarter in Nairobi, yesterday. Mr Guyo was picked as the governor candidate against Mr Doyo.

Isiolo Senator Fatuma Dulo also got the party’s nod to defend the seat while former Education CAS Mumina Gollo received ticket to vie for Woman Rep after the incumbent Rehema Dida was dropped. Ms Dida who was elected on Jubilee ticket in the 2017 polls returned to the party after decamping to Deputy President William Ruto’s United Democratic Alliance.

Jubilee settled on former Isiolo North MP Joseph Samal, from the Turkana community against the incumbent Hassan Oda. For Isiolo South Constituency, the party settled on former Assembly Speaker Mohammed Tubi. Mr Tubi was beaten by 89 votes by the incumbent Abdi Koropu of PDP in 2017. In Doyo’s team for Senate seat was Nuh Ibrahim.

While the governor’s line up heavily relied on endorsement from the populous Borana Council of Elders led by its chairman Abdullahi Gonjobe, a former senior chief in Sericho location in Garba-Tula sub county, their rivals claimed  the lineup failed to reflect the face of the cosmopolitan county. Dominant communities in Isiolo are Borana, Meru, Turkana and Somali.

In yesterday’s meeting to celebrate Guyo's candidature, elders from the five communities led by Mr Samal, pastor Stephen Kalunya and Ibrahim Chikicha were optimistic that he would ensure equal representation.