SportPesa boss Ronald Karauri will be vying for the Kasarani Parliamentary seat as an independent candidate during the August 9, General Elections.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of top betting firm SportPesa, has said that he had reached the decision after several consultations with the electorate, after seating Member of Parliament (MP) Mercy Gakuya was awarded a direct ticket by the ruling party Jubilee a fortnight ago.
The Jubilee Party resolved to use consensus and not subject aspirants to universal suffrage in the nominations that had initially been set for April 18.
The party secretary-general Jeremiah Kioni informed the Independent and Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) that they would issue direct tickets, in areas where there is only one candidate and use consensus and other methods as provided by the party regulations to pick candidates in areas where they had more than one aspirant.
“Jubilee Party will issue direct nomination certificates to unopposed aspirants and in positions where there is more than one aspirant, the party will select candidates through consensus and any other appropriate means in accordance with the party nomination rules,” a section of a letter written by Kioni to IEBC read.
In Kasarani, the Jubilee ticket had attracted three aspirants, the incumbent Gakuya, Karauri and immediate former Nairobi County CEC in charge of Education, Youth, Sports and Social Services Janet Muthoni Ouko.
The race for the nomination ticket seemed to be a two-horse race between Muthoni Ouko and Karauri and the area’s electorate was stunned when Gakuya received a direct ticket as she had not even placed billboards nor distributed fliers to indicate that she was interested in defending her seat. She was also not campaigning like her opponents, an indication that she was certain of the ticket.
Karauri’s return to the race complicates matters for the incumbent, going by the history of the constituency where an incumbent has never been re-elected for more than four decades. United Democratic Alliance (UDA) awarded former legislature John Njoroge the gong.
It is believed that Muthoni has been promised a plum position to shelve her immediate political ambition and was urged to join the Azimio One Kenya Alliance campaign team for all the Nairobi candidates including the Governor, Senator and Women Representative.
“The electorate has urged me to forge ahead and I am honouring the call. The reason why the people of Kasarani want a change of leadership is that they have been neglected by their MP. They are still struggling to educate their children, and have no roads, clean water or proper sewer systems. Many of them also struggling to feed themselves,” Karauri said.
He added: “Kasarani people want to vote in someone with visionary leadership and not make a decision based on political parties. I have offered myself to lead. I want to bring change, transparency and development in Kasarani and make it a shining example for all who will be in leadership positions countrywide.”
