RIGHT from the day KNUT National Treasurer snatched the Wiper party’s ticket for Machakos Town Constituency, there were no guarantees that he would win.
First, the circumstances in which he was declared winner- with a difference of a paltry 200 votes- yet each had over 19,000 votes meant that the race was far from being won. This was notwithstanding that there were claims that the candidates competed virtually in every level-including inflating votes.
This then explains why Dr Victor Munyaka, unpopular as he may have been, stood as much chance of re-election as MrAlbanus Mutisya, even when Mutisya was riding on the wave of the most popular party in the region.
Even worse for the party, the fact that its candidate was trounced- the wave notwithstanding, meant that there was something terminally wrong with the candidate right from the start.
If the party cares, it needs to draw lessons from this debacle. The scenario in Machakos Town was replicated in Yatta Constituency where the party imposed former MP Charles Kilonzo and in Mwala where former MP Daniel Muoki was pushed down the throats of voters by the Wiper party and the result was the same: Rejection of the Wiper men.
In Yatta, the party’s dispute resolution team was embarrassed when Mr Kilonzo was given the ticket as the dispute was being resolved. In Mwala, not even a court order restraining the party from awarding Muoki the ticket was heeded.
The man who won the Wiper Ticket Lawyer B M Musau lodged a fierce legal battle to overturn Muoki’s candidature but the hard nosed party refused to heed the court findings. Musau fought on unitill time locked him out of running, leaving the voters to make a choice between impunity and the supremacy of their will. This, together with an undying campaign spirit saw Engineer Vincent Musyoki elected to become the Mwala MP.
When voters in Mwala and Yatta noticed the determination to push unpopular people to parliament, they chose their favorites- Daniel Mwangangi (Yatta) and Engineer Vincent Musyoka(Mwala) through little known parties and denied Wiper the numbers it so badly needed in Parliament.
For a party that claims any egalitarian credentials and affixes the term ‘democratic’ to its name, then unflinchingly reneges on the very values of democratic manners is not worth pursuing to govern any State under the sun, even by mistake.
It was in such a situation that Dr.Munyaka retained the seat after trouncing Mutisya. Munyaka garnered 35,663 votes while Mutisya came in second with 25,905 votes.This outcome was nowhere near the 19,000 votes that they both got in the primaries
Residents braved the night to get the final tally of their first Member of the National Assembly under the new dispensation and when returning officer Rebecca Damiano finally made the announcement at Machakos University College dining hall at around 3am in the morning, Munyaka’s supporters were evidently jubilant.
Munyaka lauded Machakos residents for electing and trusting his leadership skills adding that he would work with everybody in the Constituency to ensure services to the residents are adequate by pushing for bills that will uplift the residents’ lives.
“I want to thank the people of Machakos for trusting me with their votes. I want to assure that I will work closely with everybody in the constituency and county to come up with bills that will ensure prosperity of our constituency and county at large.” Munyaka said after being issued with certificate. He won on a Chama Cha Uzalendo (CCU) party ticket.
Now defeated, Mutisya has had to troop back to KNUT headquarters to reclaim his Treasurer’s office where he will soon face a restive union that is keen to rout officials who clock the mandatory retirement age that he is just about to clock.
Observers attribute Mutisya’s defeat to teachers’ wrath over his history at the Machakos Knut Branch where he served as Executive Secretary. Sources say teachers are unhappy with the performance of teachers investments during the tenure of Mr Mutisya .
