UNMASKED: Ruto’s team planning to Use Jacque Maribe to unseat Sabina Chege as Murang’ a Woman Rep

Prospects of former Citizen TV news anchor Jacque Maribe gunning for the Murang’ a woman representative’s seat has excited the constituents as the battle will now pit two media personalities with whose lives have been ridden by controversies.

Maribe broke the news of her decision to enter politics through her Instagram Live in an interview with Dj Mista Dru. She declared she will enter the ring following pressure from Murang’ a resident though she is facing charges in court. But it is her controversial lifestyle that will put her on the spotlight once she formally enters the race.

Maribe will battle it out with current holder Sabina Chege, a former Kenya Broadcasting Corporation Kikuyu vernacular station presenter, Coro FM.

Maribe was fired from Citizen after she lied to her employer that she was not feeling well only to be photographed with Itumbi at a police station, prompting the Royal Media Service management to demand she “show-cause why” she should not be fired.

Maribe hit headlines for the wrong reasons when she was held for months in police custody after the murder of Monica Kimani, a South Sudan-based businesswoman.

Monica was allegedly murdered by Maribe’s fiancé, Joseph Irungu alias Jowie. They have, however, denied the charges and are currently out on bail. They were charged with the brutal murder of Monica on the night of September 3, 2018, at her Lamuria Gardens Apartment, Kilimani in Nairobi.

Last year, Maribe signalled her intention to go for a political seat when she threw a birthday party to which she invited women from her home county who pledged their support should she decide to run for an elective position.

Sabina, she was initially in DP’s TangaTanga brigade but shifted base after state agencies started a crackdown on its members. Though word had been rife that Sabina had hinted that she would go for the gubernatorial seat after current holder, Mwangi wa Iria’s second and final term comes to an end, her allies revealed that she has dropped her interest on the decorated seat, opting to defend her current seat.

Instead, she will support Murang’ a senator Irungu Kangata who is preparing to go for the gubernatorial seat. Another factor that will make the race exciting is that while Sabina is allied to Uhuru Kenyatta’s Kieleweke camp, Maribe is likely to cast her lot with deputy president William Ruto’s camp.

Maribe’s close relation with Ruto is evidenced by the fact that her lawyer in the murder charge that she is facing is Katwa Kigen, a close ally of the deputy president. Kigen represented radio journalist Joshua Sang at the International Criminal Court at The Hague, Netherlands, where he was charged with crimes against humanity alongside Ruto.

Another pointer she will be in DP’s camp is the fact that one of her closest friends, some say, boyfriend, is Dennis Itumbi, Ruto’s chief blogger

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