Keynan recaptures Eldas MP seat after fierce battle with ODM rival

Northern Kenya Jubilee Party bigwig Adan Keynan has recaptured his Eldas parliamentary seat after a fierce sibling battle with fellow Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Party candidate Arale Ahmed Boray of ODM.

Provisional results from the electoral commission showed Mr Keynan polled 7,517 votes compared to Boray’s 6,838 votes.
Mr Salat Omar Haji (UDA) managed 66 votes.

Mr Keynan becomes only MP from northern Kenya to be re-elected for a fifth, making him the longest serving legislator in the next Parliament after the defeat of Kitutu Chache MP Jimmy Angwenyi.

Mr Keynan is the Jubilee Party’s parliamentary group secretary and Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Coalition pointman in northern Kenya. He is also the longest serving Parliamentary Service Commission member.

The Eldas elections was dogged by chaos after Mr Keynan and Mr Boray’s supporters clashed on the final day of the campaigns.

Some protesters also blocked the distribution of election materials during Tuesday’s General Election over the hiring of IEBC agents.

The electoral team was forced to postpone the elections in the constituency to August 10 but it was still marred by violence in some areas.

Counting of votes and tallying was also affected by chaos that left some people injured leading to the delays in the declaration of the results.

Earlier reports had earlier indicated Mr Boray was leading in the number of votes before Mr Keynan took the lead.

IEBC commissioner Abdi Yakub Guliye was in Eldas on Wednesday to oversee the election.

Mr Guliye held a meeting with the security team, political leaders and elders to ensure smooth voting.

“We agreed to solve the issues and grievances that they had and largely it had to do with the distribution of presiding officers amongst different clans and affiliations in the constituency,” Mr Guliye said.

He said some politicians had also brought in militias to interfere with the polls.

“That is why we had to go there to ensure law and order before our poll officials could start work,” Mr Guliye said.

To compensate for the lost time, voting was extended at polling stations that opened late.

Voting at most stations started at 11am on Wednesday, a day after Kenyans in other parts of the country cast their ballots.

Wajir County has 207,758 registered voters, with Wajir East having the highest number (35,794), followed by Wajir North (33,927), Wajir West (31,334), Tarbaj (25,267) and Eldas (23,359).

The county, which borders Somalia and Ethiopia and Garissa, Marsabit and Isiolo counties, has a population of about 720,000 and an area of 55,840.6 square kilometres.

Last week, five days before the General Election, Wajir Governor Mohamed Abdi Mohamud announced he had quit the race to defend his seat.

Mr Mohamud had suffered a blow after MCAs impeached him, but he returned to office following a court order.

Mr Ahmed Ali Muktar held the governorship for nine months before the High Court in Meru reinstated Mr Mohamud.

Mr Mohamud lost to Dr Hassan Mohamed in Jubilee nominations.

Others eyeing the governorship are Mr Ahmed Abdullahi (ODM), Dr Abdullahi Ibrahim Ali (UDM), Mr Muktar (UDA), Prof Osman Warfa (Nark), Dr Siyat Abdullahi (Wiper), Mr Mohamed Ibrahim Elmi (independent) and Ugas Sheikh Mohamed (ANC).

ODM’s Abdullahi reclaimed the Wajir Governorship seat.