Thika will not be the same again……

Eng. Patrick Wainaina Wa Jungle (in green cap) receiving the IEBC certificate from the Returning Officer Geoffrey Gitobu on Thursday afternoon, paving way for him to seek election as the next Thika Town MP.

Eng. Patrick Wainaina Wa Jungle has promised Thika Town constituents that his election as their Member of Parliament come August 8 will signal their turning point as ‘things will never be the same again’.

Speaking on Thursday afternoon immediately after receiving his nomination certificate from the IEBC, Eng. Wainaina said that his agenda was to ‘fundamentally transform’ the constituency adding that his resolve to vie as their MP had been driven by the desire to free the people from the yoke of poverty, disease and ignorance as fought for by the founding fathers of this nation.

An overwhelmed and emotional Wainaina thanked the people of Thika for the support they have kept according to his mission for the last 12 years and during the Jubilee nominations exercise.

“It is quite sad that 57 years down the line, the people of Thika still struggle with poverty, diseases and ignorance, something that my predecessors ought to have addressed a long time ago. I have a proven track record that runs down 12 years. Come August 8 when I will be declared your next area MP, we will begin our journey to fundamentally transform Thika Town. Thika will never be the same again,” said Eng. Wainaina amid cheers from jubilant wananchi.

As their MP, Wa Jungle said that he would launch a comprehensive programme that would support entrepreneurship and job creation by funding and mentoring hundreds of young entrepreneurs. This he added, would be through the CDF and through partnerships with the private sector and donors both at home and abroad.

“These leaders have always been talking about your problems and how they are going to solve them but nobody ever does anything because they benefit from the status quo. We want to change that for good. We want to empower our youth and save them from being misused by politicians for political expediency,” he said.

He called on his competitors to conduct peaceful campaigns saying that elections were just for a period and Thika will remain.

“Why should anyone attack my people when they go out there to serve the people or run to court to stop my programmes for the people of Thika? If you see Wainaina implementing these programmes, just go a notch higher and do better than him. Violence will not win you votes but your service for the people will,” he said.

Wainaina also chided those who always attacked candidates who had opted to vie as independent saying that such cowardice would only come from those who feared the decision of ‘Wanjiku’ to vote for leaders of their choice.

“We are all fighting for the reelection of President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto. Nobody should pretend to be more inclined to the president than the rest of us. Furthermore, it is the people who will decide who is fit to be their next leaders and I personally will be on the president’s defense both within and without the precincts of parliament. Let no one hide behind the president’s coat when compelled to tell the people what they have done for them,” he said.

The IEBC Returning Officer Geoffrey Gitobu said that he would organise a ‘Post-Nomination’ meeting with all the candidates so as to harmonise their campaign programme to avoid any possible skirmishes. He warned that anyone who failed to adhere to the elections code of conduct would face the full wrath of the law.

“If you find any candidate or their supporters bleaching our code of conduct, please gather that evidence and forward it to us and the law enforcers and we will execute our mandate as the arbiters to ensure that they are punished as per the law,” said the R.O.

He added that no one had the right to restrain their competitors from initiating development projects saying that at the end of the day, they were all working to improve the lives of the people they were representing.

“According to me, we cannot ask candidates to stop doing development projects. If a leader is capable and is willing to help their people, let them be left to do so. No one should deny the people the right to be served in whatever capacity,” said Gitobu.