Campaigns for the Ol Kalou parliamentary by-election came to end today, with United Democratic Alliance (UDA) leaders asking police and the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to ensure peaceful elections on Thursday.
The leaders who were making their final submission for UDA candidate Samuel Muchina Nyaga, said they were hopeful voters will be allowed to exercise their democratic right to elect their MP without intimidation.
Led by Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru, the UDA leaders said the party does not condone violence and asked IEBC to work closely with security agencies to deal with any unlikely event of violence during and after the elections.
Waiguru said UDA was optimistic Muchina would win the July 16 by-elections to represent the people of Ol Kalou as their next Member of Parliament (MP).
“We have campaigned for our candidate Muchina and we are hopeful we have turned what would have been a very difficult tide back,” Waiguru said.
The Governor made the remarks during a series of campaign engagements with dairy farmers and business community at Ol Kalou town and residents of Rurii ward.
She asked supporters of all the candidates to exercise tolerance during and after voting.
Waiguru said the Ol Kalou by-election was not a matter of life and death and therefore there was no need to engage in unnecessary fights that can destabilize the whole constituency.
“At the end of the day there will be a winner, as a party we know politics is about competition and we ask our competitors to preach peace among their supporters. This is just a competition if you don’t get this time, you can get it next time,” she added.
Waiguru asked IEBC to work closely with the security agencies to ensure the polls are peaceful and take action on anyone who violates the electoral code of conduct.
“At this point we do not anticipate that there will be violence but we want to ask the security agencies to take serious their work and ensure there is peace. We need to emphasis that peace is paramount,” she added.
She asked voters to support UDA candidate so as to remain in government and reap benefits of getting their rightful share of resources for development. She said the people of Ol Kalou should put their interests first and ignore those who want to drag them into the opposition.
The engagements were attended by former Cabinet Secretary Moses Kuria, Mps; Duncan Maina (Nyeri Town), Jane Kagiri (Laikipia), Michael Muchira (Ol Jororok), Peter Wamacukuru (Kabete) and Principal Secretary (PS) for Cooperatives Patrick Kilemi, and his counterpart for Livestock Jonathan Mueke.
In his final appeal to the people, Muchina asked voters to give him a chance to represent them in parliament because he understands their needs.
He asked his supporters to maintain peace during and after the elections saying violence has no place the society.
“Political violence and destruction of property has no place in this election. As my supporters, I want to ask you to maintain peace and refuse to be use to commit any act of lawlessness,” Muchina said.
Muchina has promised to prioritize education, improvement of roads, supply of electricity and water to the residents of Ol Kalou if elected as their MP.
He said his priority would be improving service delivery in Ol Kalou through investments in infrastructure and social amenities.
“Development comes through partnership and cooperation. We need a leader who will work with the government to bring more resources, opportunities, and projects to the people of Ol Kalou,” he said.
