Kiambaa contest between Jubilee and UDA tight as results stream in

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UDA candidate John Njuguna (L) and Jubilee Party’s Karanja Kiriri (R) are seeking to succeed late Kiambaa MP Paul Koinange, who died on March 31, 2021. [Standard]

The Kiambaa parliamentary by-election is too close to call as Jubilee Party and United Democratic Alliance candidates continue to engage in a neck and neck contest.
One hundred and fifty-one (151) polling stations out of 154 have so far streamed in their results, with UDA candidate John Njuguna in the lead.
Out of the 151 polling stations, Njuguna has 21,227 votes whereas Jubilee Party candidate Karanja Kiriri has 20,818, a difference of 409 votes.
The valid votes counted so far are 42,295 representing a voter turn-out of 44.43 per cent. Kiambaa has 96,020 registered voters.
The results show the other six contestants are out of the race, with the third candidate Gichia Evans Wainaina having 79 votes.
Either Njuguna or Kiriri will replace Paul Koinange, the former holder of the Kiambaa parliamentary seat. Koinange died on March 31, 2021 while receiving treatment at a Nairobi hospital.
President Uhuru Kenyatta eulogised Koinange as a “steadfast leader”.
“The cruel hand of death has robbed us of a steadfast leader. A leader and gentleman whose undivided focus was the peace, stability and progress of our country.
“Through the National Assembly Departmental Committee on Administration and National Security where he was the Chairperson, Hon Koinange advanced legislation and policy interventions that sought to create a peaceful, stable and tranquil nation,” the President said in a statement on March 31.
Koinange, who was Kiambaa representative to the National Assembly since 2017, succumbed to Covid-19 complications aged 72.
(Provisional results shared by Standard Group’s Emmanuel Too, who is in Kiambaa)

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