Deputy President William Ruto on Saturday congratulated the newly elect MPs Julius Mawathe and David Ochieng who won the Embakasi South and Ugenya by-elections respectively.
DP stated that the victory of the two candidates who battled down rivals from ODM party was ‘God-given’.
“CONGRATULATIONS Ochieng (Ugenya) & Mawathe (Embakasi) for your God given victory. Jameni wacheni MUNGU aitwe MUNGU. The hustler nation has spoken, the people have decided. GLORY TO THE ALMIGHTY GOD,” Dr. Ruto said on Twitter.
Ochieng defeated his ODM counterpart Christopher Karan with over 7,000 votes.
He vied for the Ugenya seat under the little-known Movement for Democracy and Growth (MDG) party that he formed in 2017, after a fall out with ODM’s top party leadership.
In Embakasi South, ODM’s Irshad Sumra conceded defeat even before half of the votes cast had been tallied, blaming his defeat on ‘poor organisation’ during campaigns.
“I am a veteran in politics, I have my numbers and I just want to say that this time I lost fair and square because my finishing was poor. It was a lack of planning on my part I will not shift blame to anyone,” said Sumra.
His rival Mawathe (Wiper Party), who was declared winner of the Embakasi South by-election, revealed that the Jubilee party had supported him after deciding not to field their own candidate.
“Congratulations to you my friend Hon.Julius Mawathe for convincingly winning back your seat. The people of Embakasi have shown their total faith and trust in you. We missed you in the leadership of Bunge FC. See you soon. Godspeed.” Elgeyo Marakwet Senator Kipchumba Murkomen said:
“Congratulations to you my brother Hon. David Ochieng for your scintillating &exhilarating victory.The people of Ugenya have demonstrated that humility,hard work and service to humanity matters much more than empty rhetorics, riddles and cock&bull stories,” he added.