Nyeri Town MP Ngunjiri Wambugu was among Jubilee politicians who lost their seats to United Democratic Alliance (UDA) candidates in Mt Kenya.
UDA has asserted itself as the dominant party in Mt Kenya after scooping most of the elective posts in the region, dislodging the Jubilee party.
Jubilee secretary general Jeremiah Kioni, who lost Ndaragwa MP seat and conceded to George Gachagua of UDA, on Thursday, July 11, 2022, released a statement alleging that there was vote rigging in favour of their rival UDA in the Mt Kenya constituencies.
Kioni dismissed the notion that there was an alleged UDA wave in the Mt Kenya region that saw their Jubilee opponents lose.
“For the record, let all and sundry know there was no “Yellow Wave” in the Mt Kenya region including other regions like Bungoma, Taita Taveta and Kisii. These claims are far from the truth. We have learnt of massive subtle rigging scheme that took place in the 33 constituencies of Mt Kenya for the parliamentary seat,” Kioni said in the statement.
“The agents found the tamper-proof envelopes containing the seals and stamps unsealed. The voter turnout in the KIEMs did not tally with a number of used ballot counterfoils,” he added.
Wambugu claims he was among Jubilee MPs rigged out
IEBC announced UDA candidate Duncan Mathenge as the MP-elect of Nyeri Town Constituency.
According to the electoral body, Mathenge managed to attain 41,111 votes to clinch the seat from rival Jubilee Party candidate Ngunjiri Wambugu who garnered 11,808 votes.
In a series of posts on social media, Wambugu claimed there was vote rigging in Nyeri Town constituency as he questioned the ‘high voter turnout.
“So Nyeri Town had nearly 70% voter turnout? Really? Even stealing requires intelligence, good people. Premium tears loading…” Wambugu wrote on Facebook.
“So apparently 56,039 people voted for MP on Tuesday in Nyeri Town. The total number of registered voters is 89,000. So on Tuesday, we had a 64.3% voter turnout in Nyeri Town?” He added.
Wambugu also questioned ‘huge voter turnout’ in Kieni where another Jubilee MP Kanini Kega lost to UDA’s Njoroge Wainaina.
“So apparently 74,748 people voted for MP on Tuesday in Kieni. The total number of registered voters is 114,573. So on Tuesday, we had a 65.24% voter turnout in Kieni,” Wambugu wrote.
The Nyeri Town MP further indicated that he was heading to court to challenge the election results.
“People should relax. Election disputes aren’t about who has the best insults. As we will see in coming days. But I would strongly advise watu wasitupe nguo za campaigns; not just yet. Watu watulie waweke pressure zero. Petitions are part of elections. If you won legit, it’s easy to prove. You should only worry if you loaded a consistent number of votes per polling station,” he wrote.
