Kwale Speaker bolts from ODM, to seek top job as an independent

The Kwale County Assembly Speaker, Sammy Ruwa, will be contesting for the gubernatorial seat as an independent candidate after ditching the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) citing botched nominations.

Ruwa said his decision was triggered by ODM’s decision to ignore the official party register and instead opted for the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) register which led to participation in the voting process by persons not members of the ODM party.

“I made the decision that instead of fighting a political party and expecting it to support your election, the best thing would be to engage them and try to iron out the issues but once I realised the party did not share my concerns, I resigned and I have since been cleared to run as an independent candidate,” said Mr Ruwa.

He also said that the announcement of results was poorly done as he only learnt through social media that his rival, Issa Chipera, won the nomination with 7,085 votes against his 6,649.

Addressing the media in his office in Kwale, Ruwa said he will neither support NASA nor Jubilee presidential candidates since they have not reached out to him after resigning from ODM.

“I have not been asked by Uhuru Kenyatta or Raila Odinga to support them or other presidential candidates and, therefore, I will not send myself to campaign for them but only ask for my votes.”

Written by Wahome Gitonga