The Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) has awarded Nakuru Town West aspirant Dr Isoe Ochoki a direct ticket after party aspirants resolved to support his candidature.
Dr Ochoki's candidature comes after his opponent, Hezron Okiki, withdrew his bid for the seat ahead of the party primaries scheduled to start on Friday.
According to the party's election commissioners, the decision to award Dr Ochoki a direct ticket was made after a resolution by the party aspirants, effectively shelving the much-awaited nominations for the constituency.
Dr Ochoki has previously contested against incumbent MP Samuel Arama of Jubilee Party in the 2017 general elections, with the former moving up to the Court of Appeal after the contested results.
The Nakuru Town West constituency has a total of 97,549 registered voters, with Dr Ochoki coming second in the 2017 elections with 25,071 votes, behind incumbent MP Samuel Arama who garnered 29,682 votes.
Dr Ochoki, a gynecologist and proprietor of Baraka Maternity and Nursing Home, expressed his gratitude to the party for the direct ticket, stating that the party was slowly reinventing itself from being labelled chaotic by allowing more democracy for members.
He emphasized that members should not leave the party but give negotiated democracy for posterity, adding that ODM will be on the ballot in the forthcoming parliamentary seat.
On the other hand, Hezron Okiki insisted that party primaries for the ward reps in the constituency will go ahead as planned, calling on the party headquarters to constitute an independent committee that will oversee the exercise.
