Pandemonium As Jubilee Declares Two Winners For The Same Seat.

Witeithie residents demonstrating against the decision of Jubilee Party to declare to winners for the same seat. John Thungu (inset) was initially declared the winner before this decision was overturned under  very unclear circumstances.

Confusion and outrage has engulfed Juja residents after Jubilee Party election officials announced parallel results, with two MCA candidates being declared winners on Wednesday in a span of half an hour at the Mang’u High School tallying centre.  

Supporters John Thungu Muniu protested the declaration of Julius Macharia Taki as the winner of Jubilee Witeithie Ward polls.

According to Joseph Kabui who was Thungu’s agent, trouble started when Juja MP Francis Munyua Waititu disputed the results and said that they were not reflective of the wishes of the people of Witeithie Ward, thereby demanding for a recount.

The initial results had declared Thungu the winner with 1,171 votes against Taki’s 1,115 votes. 30 minutes later, those results were reversed with the returning officer handing Taki the win announcing that he had garnered 1,390 votes. Thungu was then ranked second with 1,338 votes.

The announcement ignited the wrath of the residents who threatened to disrupt the whole exercise. Thungu’s agents protested to the returning officer arguing that those results had been doctored to favour Taki but their pleas landed on deaf ears. 

“I was an agent at Muthara Primary School polling station when the results were announced, my candidate (Thungu) had garnered 454 votes. All the agents signed the forms declaring the tally in that polling station. But upon arriving at Mang’u High School, a different form, with only three signatures was produced, indicating that Thungu had garnered 404 votes. My signature as well as that of the rest of the agents at the polling station were not in the new form shown at the tallying centre,” said Kabui.

The residents therefore demanded a comprehensive analysis of how the officials arrive d at the new vote tallies which by the time they left the centre, they had not gotten any feedback.

There were claims also that one of the vehicles used to transport the ballots and the officers manning these primaries to the tallying centre belonged to Taki who was a candidate in the primaries, more reason that there might have been some underhand dealings that transpired between when the votes left the polling centre to when they arrived at the tallying centre.

They demanded a rerun of the primaries warning that if their will was not respected, they had numerous options at their disposal.

Talking to the press after arriving back from the Jubilee Party Headquarters in Pangani Nairobi, Thungu said that he would pursue the laid down mechanisms in the party to seek justice. Otherwise, he warned that if justice did not prevail, he would go back to the people of Witeithie ward to seek their advice on the way forward.

He blamed the party for the mess, adding that the exercise was not free and fair.