A day after his convoy was stoned, Jubilee candidate in Kibra constituency by-election Macdonald Mariga has broken his silence.
Through his Facebook page, Mariga, while congratulating his supporters for turning up in large numbers for the rally held at Bukhungu grounds in Makina Ward, said the unfortunate occurrence was regrettable.
He urged his competitors (ODM) to shun away from violence adding that the heinous act was not going to dampen their spirit as Jubilee rather will encourage them to campaign even harder.
“Thank you Kibra. I want also to thank the huge crowd that filled the Bukhungu grounds Makina Ward who came to listen to me and Welcome jubilee to Kibra. I am thrilled as the rally was successful even though violence emerged against our supporters by criminals from another party that claims that Kibra is their bedroom,” posted Mariga.
On Saturday, Mariga’s convoy in Kibra was pelted with stones and tyres set ablaze in the middle of the road, a few metres from a towering billboard with the candidate’s face.
It was alleged that chaos erupted after a Jubilee point man in the area was caught with some Sh10 million with the intention of buying Identification cards from voters.
The allegations were, however, rubbished by party head of communication, Albert Mwemusi, who observed that Sh10 million was such a huge amount for someone to walk around with.
“It is unfortunate that the incident has occurred. We as Jubilee condemn the incident and assure our members that the incident shall be keenly investigated,” stated Mwemusi
The incident happened just some days after the ODM party accused IEBC of planning to rig elections in the constituency.
The party officials claimed that two ICT officials from the electoral body were working closely with a Jubilee politician to rig in Mariga, largely perceived to be a Ruto project.
For a while in his campaign trail, Mariga has seemed to pull the crowd, something that has made his rivals question his assumed popularity.