Musician Kevin Kioko alias Bahati will now contest for the Mathare parliamentary seat after the Jubilee Party made a u-turn in its decision to withdraw his nomination certificate.
The announcement was made by Jubilee Secretary-General, Jeremiah Kioni, during a press briefing at the party headquarters in Nairobi.
Kioni stated that the party had the interests of the youth at heart and hence the decision to reinstate Bahati's certificate.
The musician made headlines two weeks ago after breaking down during a presser after he was asked to step down from the race in favour of the Orange Democratic Movement's (ODM) aspirant, Anthony Oluoch.
He praised the party's decision to allow him contest in August, saying that it had restored its faith in the youth.
"I would like to thank my party, I have my ticket. There were a lot of things going on but I am I will be on the ballot on a Jubilee Party ticket and I can promise I will be the next Member of Parliament for Mathare. Thank you very much to my party for the opportunity to run," Bahati stated.
"Today I am not crying, so I would like to thank my party leader for giving not only Bahati the opportunity but also the youth of this country an opportunity to lead and give the people a voice. I also want to thank Baba (Raila Odinga) for giving me the consideration despite the tough issues of zoning in the coalition."
The decision to withdraw Bahati's certificate was reached as part of the zoning agreement between Azimio One Kenya affiliate parties.
Earlier, Jubilee Party had explained that a standing agreement with Azimio was at the centre of the controversy surrounding Bahati's nomination.
Jubilee Party Director of Elections, Kanini Kega, stated that ODM contacted the ruling party enquiring as to why it had breached the agreement by fielding a candidate in its (ODM's) turf.
Kega explained that Jubilee, ODM and Wiper had agreed to zone constituencies in Nairobi based on how the three parties faired in the 2017 General Election, further admitting to breaking the agreement.
"ODM reached out to us asking why we decided to field a candidate in a constituency that was settled on as an ODM stronghold. They stated they already have a candidate for Mathare, incumbent Tom Oluoch, who will be defending his seat, so we had to pull out of the race," he stated.
Kega stated that in the agreement, Jubilee would field candidates in 8 out of 17 constituencies. Notably, no party was allowed to front candidates areas perceived as the partners' strongholds.
In the zoning agreement, Embakasi South was exclusively left for the Wiper's Musili Mawathe, who is seeking to vie for a second term.
