Independent candidate, Sharlet Mariam, has pulled out of the Msambweni Constituency by-election slated for December 15.
On Tuesday, Mariam threw her weight behind the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) candidate Omar Boga.
Mariam said that she pulled out after conferring with ODM leader, Raila Odinga, who persuaded her to support Boga to ensure the opposition party retains the seat left vacant following Suleiman Dori’s death.
Earlier this year, Mariam found herself a pawn in the Jubilee internal wrangles when Deputy President William Ruto stormed the Pangani headquarters to declare her the party’s choice for the mini-poll.
However, DP Ruto was outmaneuvered by the Jubilee Secretary-General Raphael Tuju who publicly announced that the party would not field a candidate in Msambeni in honour of the handshake between ODM leader and President Uhuru Kenyatta.
By the time, Ruto was arriving at the Pangani party headquarters the die had already been cast and there wasn’t much the DP could do to overturn the party position.
Mariam had initially ditched ODM for Jubilee hoping to be its candidate in the by-election.
