Former Director of Youth Affairs in the Office of Deputy President William Ruto will now fly the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party flag in the August 9 General Election.
ODM delegates in Kitutu Chache South constituency rewarded Kibagendi with the ticket after ditching Deputy President William Ruto and joining the Azimio la Umoja-One Kenya coalition.
The ex-Ruto ally welcomed his nomination, thanking both the party and his supporters for trusting him with flying the ODM flag in the parliamentary race. He also called upon his opponents to join him in campaigning for Raila Odinga.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we finally clinched the ODM ticket. It is out of the will of God and resilience to win this party ticket and represent our people of Kitutu Chache South in The National Assembly.
"Now, the real work begins, working towards winning it in August. Campaigning for ourselves, the county Governor, Senator and Woman Representative seats and of course, for Baba to win the presidency," Kibagendi stated.
Kibagendi will be making his third stab at the Kitutu Chache South. He contested for the seat under and ODM ticket in 2013, while in 2017, he vied on a Jubilee Party ticket losing to incumbent Richard Onyonka.
Once perceived as Ruto's point man who would help scuttle the Raila-led party's dominance in South Nyanza, the candidate revealed some of UDA's closely guarded political strategies.
"I got to the top of the ladder in UDA only to realize that it was leaning on the wrong wall but I can tell you in there that they were doing a lot of opinion polls regularly to try and identify strong candidates," he revealed.
Elsewhere former Funyula MP Paul Otuoma won the ODM gubernatorial preliminaries in Busia County. The former Cabinet Minister garnered 49,330 votes, trouncing woman rep Florence Mutua, who managed 30,696 votes.
“Let us work together for the betterment of Busia County. We have been nominated to carry the ODM ticket to face other aspirants in the August polls, let us prove that we are indeed the best for the County,” Otuoma stated.
Catherine Omanyo was announced by Charles Tipps, ODM's National Election Board County returning officer in Busia County, as the winner of the Woman Rep nominations.
