Six women were on the verge of making political history on
Wednesday after they were elected to key seats that evaded female
politicians in the last elections.
Outgoing
National Assembly Deputy Speaker and Bomet MP Joyce Laboso, and former
Cabinet secretaries Anne Waiguru and Charity Ngilu were headed to become
the first women governors in the country.
Ms Ngilu,
who also served in President Mwai Kibaki’s government, was on Wednesday
basking in the glory of surmounting great political odds to clinch the
Kitui gubernatorial seat.
The
veteran politician was set to beat two political giants; Kitui Senator
David Musila and incumbent Julius Malombe, after opening a 50,000 vote
lead.
It will be sweet victory
for the Narc Party leader in two ways: Ms Ngilu will not just revive her
career that suffered a setback after she lost Kitui senatorial contest
in 2013 and her subsequent sacking from the Cabinet, but she also
managed to dislodge the dominant Wiper Party from Kitui County politics.
ISAAC RUTO
Dr
Laboso, a former university lecturer and Jubilee Party candidate,
trounced incumbent Governor Isaac Ruto, one of Nasa’s co-principal.
By the time of going to press, Ms Laboso was leading Mr Ruto of Chama Cha Mashinani with 175,932 votes against 85,863 votes.
In
Kirinyaga, Ms Waiguru of Jubilee beat Narc-Kenya leader and also a
former Cabinet minister Martha Karua after garnering 159,361 votes
against 120,183 votes.
Ms
Waiguru took the biggest share of Gichugu and Mwea votes while Ndia was
split between the two, by the time of going to press. Ms Karua led in
Kirinyaga Central.
Most voters in Gichugu constituency, where Ms Karua served as MP, voted for Ms Waiguru.
STRUGGLE
The
win culminates a tumultuous four-year struggle for Ms Waiguru who first
strode onto the national scene as Devolution Cabinet Secretary in 2013
before resigning under the cloud of the National Youth Service
corruption scandal in 2015.
When she declared her
candidature for Kirinyaga governor, she vowed to inject fresh blood and
cited her achievements as a CS, including the setting up of Huduma
centres across the country, as a sign that she would deliver.
On
the other hand, former Cabinet minister in the Kibaki administration
Prof Margaret Kamar, nominated Senator Fatuma Dullo and Nakuru County
assembly speaker Susan Kihika were also headed to the hall of fame book
as Kenya’s first elected women senators.
The
three were headed for a big win in Uasin Gishu, Isiolo and Nakuru
counties. Although the number is low, it is progress from the last
elections where no woman was elected to the Senate or as governor.
NOMINATED
The 18 women in the Senate were nominated as an affirmative action in accordance with the Constitution.
Prof
Kamar, an academic and former Higher Education minister running on
Jubilee Party, was last evening headed for a landslide victory in the
Uasin Gishu senatorial contest.
By
5pm, she had garnered 220,668 votes against her closest challenger
Robert Kemei who had 84,258. Prof Kamar defeated Mr Kemei in the
Jubilee primaries last April.
She is making a comeback to Parliament after serving as Eldoret East MP between 2008 and 2013.
Ms Kihika, a lawyer, had polled 638,661 votes, leading her opponents at 89,58 per cent vote representation.
ODM’s Samuel Ogada was second at 55, 327 votes in provisional results showing at 95 per cent vote coverage.
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