Jubilee Party aspirant for the upcoming Mbeere North Parliamentary by-election Jacob Mbao has come out to set the record straight over reports that the party will not be fielding a candidate in the race.
This follows a post on social media by the party Deputy Organizing Secretary Pauline Njoroge to the effect that the party will not have a contestant in the by-election and will instead support the joint opposition candidate.
However, Mbao has dismissed the assertions as baseless, maintaining that he was still in the race flying the Jubilee Party flag.
Speaking at a press briefing in Embu Town on Sunday morning flanked by party officials and supporters, Mbao who is deaf said he had not received any official communication from the party, saying Pauline had no authority to make the pronouncements.
“I wish to tell the people of Mbeere North that I will be on the ballot on a Jubilee Party ticket and they should treat any contrary information as mere propaganda,” he said.
He added that he had communicated with the Party Leader, the Retired President Uhuru Kenyatta and assured of his candidature on the party ticket.
Additionally, Mbao said he was expecting to receive his nomination certificate this week as promised by the party top brass.
The Party Branch Secretary Nyaga Ndekere maintained Mbao was their candidate as there was no other candidate that had expressed interest to vie on the party ticket.
“We took him to the party headquarters and to the Secretary General Jeremiah Kioni who gladly accepted him and we started grassroots mobilisation,” he noted.
He added, ” those spreading lies that Jubilee Party will not field a candidate in Mbeere North are misguided and should stop misleading our supporters.”
By Samuel Waititu
