Naivasha Member of Parliament Jayne Kihara has issued a clarification regarding a viral video that depicted her as casting two ballots during the recently concluded United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party primaries.
In an interview with Kenyans.co.ke on Wednesday, April 20, Kihara explained that she got mixed up with the ballot boxes at the polling station.
She further argued that the attack was an attempt by her opponents to scuttle her success despite a ruling by UDA's Electoral and Nomination Dispute Resolution Committee.
"If you look at it properly you will note I skipped one box. This is because I put the first ballot in the wrong box. So the remaining one was for same box. As simple as that," she explained noting that her claims would be supported by the station's presiding officer.
The video, which had been shared widely online, insinuated that she used the trick to secure the UDA ticket through which she would use to defend her seat.
In the interview, Kihara further noted that her competitor John Karanja Kihagi, who she beat with one vote, was being sponsored by Nakuru Senator Susan Kihika.
"Susan Kihika had a presence of her candidate who happens to be Kihagi. That is why those bloggers, because I won with one vote, they want to justify that nonsense.
"We just finished this thing, I don't know how she is going to behave from now. I don't know if she is going to help him move to independent or what she is going to do. As to whether she will support me, I do not know," she added.
Since the polls concluded, she is yet to speak to Kihagi confirming that he was yet to concede.
During the hotly contested race for the ticket, the Electoral and Nomination Dispute Resolution Committee confirmed that Kihara garnered 9852 votes while Kihagi received only 9824 votes.
In the initial results, the constituency's returning officer had announced Kihagi as the winner prompting Kihara to file a petition, with some of her supporters staging protests.
In his defence, Karanja had argued that lack of inclusion of votes in two polling stations, Maua Primary School and Milimani Secondary School, were not significant for the final tally.
"The Committee finds that the failure to include the results of Maua Primary School polling station and Milimani Secondary School polling station in the final tally had a significant bearing on the final outcome that overturns the results as announced by the Returning Officer for Naivasha constituency," ruled the committee at the time.
