At least eight former governors who were defeated in the 2017 General Election reclaimed their seats in the just concluded August 9 General Election.
Kenneth Lusaka (Bungoma), Benjamin Cheboi (Baringo), Joshua Irungu (Laikipia), Nadhif Jama (Garissa), Simon Kachapin (West Pokot), Issa Timamy (Lamu), Julius Malombe (Kitui), and Ahmed Abdullahi (Wajir) reclaimed gubernatorial seats they had lost in the previous election.
Speaker Lusaka garnered 241,695 votes against former Governor Wycliffe Wangamati who garnered 137,378 votes to become governor-elect in Bungoma.
“I accept with humility the confidence the people of Bungoma have bestowed in me by electing me as their governor,” Lusaka said during his acceptance speech.
Wiper candidate Malombe made a similar comeback to Kitui politics, receiving 198,004 votes to defeat his primary opponent, former Kitui Senator David Musila, who received 117,606 votes.
Charity Ngilu, the incumbent Kitui Governor, did not appear on the ballot because she chose to withdraw from the race in order to rally support for Azimio presidential candidate Raila Odinga, who has promised her a national position if he wins the presidential election.
Abdullahi also reclaimed Wajir County’s corner office, which he had lost to Jubilee’s Abdi Mohamud in 2017.
The Wajir-governor-elect received 35,533 votes, surpassing Jubilee’s Hassan Mohammed Adan, who received 27,224 votes, and former Deputy Governor Ahmed Ali Mukhtar, who received 21,859.
Following the impeachment of Mohamed Abdi, Mukhtar briefly served as governor of Wajir.
Cheboi and Irungu are back to regional politics after staying out in the cold when they lost to Ndiritu Murithi and Stanley Kiptis, respectively in 2017,.
Cheboi defeated his replacement in this year’s election, receiving 137,486 votes against Kiptis’ 17, 646 votes. Irungu, on the other side, defeated Muriithi, the current one-term governor, with 114,094 votes. Muriithi garnered 49,291 votes.
In Garissa, Jama reclaimed his seat after receiving 69,342 votes, a resounding victory over former governor Ali Korane, who received 26,148 votes.
In West Pokot, United Democratic Alliance Party (UDA), candidate Kachapin has clinched the gubernatorial seat after receiving 86,476 votes to replace incumbent governor John Lonyangapuo, who received 84,610 votes.
Timamy, the Amani National Congress Party(ANC) candidate, also defeated incumbent Lamu Governor Fahim Twaha, receiving 24,198 votes to the Jubilee candidate’s 16,054 votes in the four-way race.