How Manyatta Constituency propelled Mbarire to victory
Embu governor-elect Cecily Mbarire (center) holds up her certificate after being declared winner in the gubernatorial race at the Kangaru Girls School county tallying center.
Nominated Member of Parliament Cecily Mbarire won the Embu gubernatorial seat, becoming the first woman Governor in the region.
Mbarire's victory came as a surprise as many thought the race was too tough for her.
She narrowly floored former Senator Lenny Kivuti, a political heavyweight who was running on Devolution Empowerment Party (DEP).
Ms Mbarire contested on Deputy President William Ruto's United Democratic Alliance (UDA) political outfit.
Ms Mbarire almost lost to Kivuti but Manyatta Constituency came to her rescue.
In this constituency, Ms Mbarire polled 45,404 votes against Mr Kivuti's 20,650.
MsMbarire said Manyatta, which neighbours her home constituency, Runyenjes, made her proud.
"Residents of Manyatta came out in large numbers and most of them voted for me and that is how I won," she said.
Mr Kivuti who first made his first stab at the seat in 2017 and was defeated by the outgoing Embu governor Martin Wambora, garnered 105,246 while Mbarire got 108,610.
Ms Mbarire, the governor elect while thanking her supporters for helping her to get votes in the whole county, said that she looks forward to serving the great people of Embu in a big way and to make it a true land of opportunity.
“I want to thank everyone who helped me traverse the whole county looking for votes and I look forward to serving the people of Embu in a big way and making Embu a true land of opportunity,” said Mbarire.
She also thanked Embu residents for having confidence in her and electing her as the first female governor of the Mt Kenya East county.
“I want to thank the great people of Embu county for having confidence in me and for electing the first female governor in Embu county, I feel very humbled,” she said.
She commended the multi-agency security team for providing security throughout the election process and the IEBC for delivering a free, just and credible election.
“I want to thank the security agencies here in the county who have made sure that we manage to get through the whole process without major challenges, who have made sure that there was peace and calm throughout the county and IEBC for delivering a free, just and credible election," she added.
Njage Kumatha who vied on Development Party (DP) an affiliate party of Kenya Kwanza garnered 1,676 votes out of 219,317 tallied votes while 3,780 votes were rejected.
