Cecily Mbarire beats Lenny Kivuti in Embu governor race
Embu governor-elect Cecily Mbarire (center) celebrates with her supporters after she was declared the winner.
Cecily Mbarire of UDA was on Saturday morning declared Embu governor after days of vote counting and tallying beating her closest rival Lenny Maxwell Kivuti of DEP.
In a race where the two were the frontrunners, Ms Mbarire had 108,610 votes against Mr Kivuti’s 105,246. The other contestant was Dr Peter Njagi Kumantha (1,676) while former Manyatta MP Kathuri withdrew from the race last week. However, he was still on the ballot and got 3,870.
It was the second time Mr Kivuti was narrowly losing the Embu governorship race after having lost by about 1,000 votes in 2017 to Martin Wambora.
Earlier last night, tempers flared up and the two rivals’ camps supporters fought in the tallying hall. Ms Mbarire’s supporters accused Kivuti’s of colluding with the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to delay the announcement of the results.
“We will not leave here without our results. We know what’s happening but we will be patient to wait for you to tally the results and give us our certificate,” Ms Mbarire told the county returning officer Agnes Kamene Mutisya.
The returning officer said that IEBC officials had not verified all the results received from constituencies and could therefore not announce the results. Ms Mbarire’s supporters camped outside Kangaru Girls School gate the whole night in the rain.
The senatorial seat was won by Alexander Munyi Mundigi of DP who polled 81,162, beating his closest challenger, outgoing deputy governor David Kariuki who vied on a UDA ticket (55,695).
Former principal secretary Lilian Mbogo (Jubilee) was third with 22,851 followed by outgoing senator Peter Njeru Ndwiga who had 17, 111 votes. Martin Wambora who sought the seat after serving his two terms as governor had 13,523 votes in his favour.
Former Kamukunji MP Norman Nyaga had 9,387. Others in the race were Benard Njeru wa January (4865), Fridah Wanjiku Karani (4,118), John Njeru Kithu (2,262), Josphat Mugendi (2,762) Stephen Nyaga (3,617) and Moses Wamuuru (2,074).
The new woman representative for Embu county is Double N Pamela Njoki who was elected with 141,107 votes followed by Catherine Wanja Njiru (16,822) while the incumbent Jane Wanjiku Njiru had 14,318 votes.
