Roysambu Parliamentary seat contest narrows down to two
United Democratic Alliance (UDA) Roysambu parliamentary candidate Augustine Kamande Mwafrika.
The battle for Roysambu parliamentary seat in Nairobi County has narrowed down to a contest between Jubilee Party candidate Waihenya Ndirangu and United Democratic Alliance (UDA) candidate Augustine Kamande Mwafrika.
With just 34 days to the August 9 polls, the two have been traversing the constituency to get the backing of the 153,772 registered voters.
Mr Ndirangu, the incumbent, is seeking a third term but is facing strong opposition from Mr Kamande, popularly known as Mwafrika.
Mr Ndirangu defeated Mr Kamande in the Jubilee primaries in 2017 before defeating him again during the General Election after the latter had defected to the Democratic Party.
The incumbent was handed a direct ticket by the President Uhuru Kenyatta-led party to defend his seat while Mr Kamande trounced four aspirants during UDA nominations.
However, Mr Kamande is confident he will be lucky in the August 9 elections. He says the tide has turned against the incumbent who he accuses of failing to deliver despite being elected twice in 2013 and 2017.
He is banking on his development track record and strong UDA presence in the area to clinch the seat.
An opinion poll conducted in June by Mizani Africa put his popularity at 54.9 percent against Mr Ndirangu’s 39.7 percent.
“I have established a deep connection with the residents due to the projects I have been rolling out in the area. I am confident they will elect me because they have seen what I am capable of should I be elected,” said Mr Kamande.
Servant leadership
“Roysambu is UDA zone as was shown by the high number of aspirants who came out to seek the party’s ticket for various seats in the constituency and the huge turnout during the nominations,” he added.
He said the constituency – hived off the larger Kasarani constituency in the run up to the 2013 elections – is still grappling with poor roads, insecurity, water shortage, drainage problems, access to education and shortage of medicine in health facilities across the five wards of Kahawa West, Githurai 44, Kahawa, Zimmerman and Roysambu.
Consequently, Mr Kamande said his focus will be to improve the poor infrastructure in the area, enhance access to water, install more security lights, ensure health facilities are stocked with medicine and build an innovation centre to help in nurturing youth talents.
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Further, he is betting on leveraging on distribution of bursaries and construction of schools to improve quality and access to education in the constituency.
“I want to bring servant leadership which has been lacking in Roysambu. I want to be available to the people,” he said.
However, it will be an epic battle to wrestle the seat from Mr Ndirangu who has won the seat in the last two elections.
The incumbent burst into the political limelight in 1990 as Nyeri Town MP at the young age of 22, to succeed Waruru Kanja who had just lost his seat after being expelled by the then ruling party Kanu.
Though he lost the seat during the 1992 General Election, 21 years later, Mr Ndirangu was elected as Roysambu MP on a TNA party ticket.
