Former Kitui Governor Dr. Julius Malombe was on Monday cleared by the IEBC to run for the Kitui Gubernatorial seat on the Wiper Party ticket.
Malombe won Sunday’s Wiper Party nominations 2 days after the high court ordered fresh nominations. Kiema Kilonzo filed a case citing that Wiper gave Malombe a direct ticket through an unlawful process.
Malombe expressed his joy after being cleared saying that it has been a tough journey battling court cases filed by Kiema. He stated that he is ready to liberate the Kitui people who he claimed had suffered under the leadership of the incumbent.
“God has heard the cry of the people of Kitui and I would like to call the people of Kitui to get ready because I’m going to restore the glory of Kitui,” he said.
The ex-Governor took on Kiema for forcing nominations claiming the people are not supporting him and called on him to look for other alternatives instead of being used to deny him a chance to serve the people of Kitui.
“Of all the votes cast on Sunday I had 99.2 percent and my competitor had 0.8 and with that percentage, you can’t even win an MCA seat and that’s why I request him to give the people of Kitui a chance to vote for leaders that have a track record and know they will deliver to them. I’m confident that I have the best record for serving them well since I’m a transparent leader, we want to move forward to better Kitui and not people running to courts now and then,” Malombe stated.
He also challenged Kiema if he thinks Kitui people will vote for him to run as an independent candidate and see whether they will vote for him.
Kitui Governor Charity Ngilu was also cleared by the IEBC in a closed-door event where journalists were barred from taking pictures and recording.
Confirming the clearance, Kitui County IEBC Returning Officer Macharia Gichichi said, “I wish to confirm that we have cleared the current Governor to defend her seat and issued her with a clearance certificate.”
Returning Officer Gichichi called upon all the candidates to adhere to the code of conduct and regulations as directed by the IEBC.