Sharlet Mariam Akinyi will not bow out of the race for the Msambweni Parliamentary seat, she has declared.
The MP aspirant was denied a Jubilee Party ticket on Wednesday after the party led by President Uhuru Kenyatta resolved not to field a candidate during the December by-election.
Mariam stormed the Jubilee Headquarters as Deputy President William Ruto held a closed door meeting with the party Secretary General Raphael Tuju who had earlier on in the day communicated the decision.
Tuju said, “The country has very serious constitutional matters to deal with that will require sobriety and reaching across the political divides in order to navigate our beloved country across some of these challenges.”
Though the DP disagreed with the decision, he pledged to support Mariam should she seek his help.
“I was of a different view on the party fielding a candidate in Msambweni but because a decision has already been made and communicated to the public, we will all stand by that decision that those who had intentions of vying on a Jubilee ticket in Msambweni will now look for alternatives may be run as independent candidates or in other political parties,” the DP said.
On Thursday however, the second in command who is poised to take over the reins of power in 2022, met with yet another candidate running for the Msambweni seat that fell vacant following the death of Suleiman Dori.
Ruto met with late Dori’s relative and personal assistant Feisal Abdallah Bader at his Karen office.
He too will be contending for the seat.
According to Mariam who spoke to reporters after the Ruto meeting, she will vie for the seat as an independent candidate.
“Mwanamke amejitokeza na anafinyiliwa chini. Mimi nasema ivi, niko tayari kupambana na wanaume. Dynasties or no dynasties…mimi niko tayari kupambana na wanaume.
“It is so sad that a woman is repressed when she stands out to fight for an equal right. I am ready to face all men. Dynasties or no dynasties,” she said.
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