This archive report was first published on 28 August 2019.
On August 26, 2019, a behind-the-scenes infighting for the soul of the ruling Jubilee party began, pitting President Uhuru Kenyatta's and his deputy William Ruto's camps against each other ahead of a looming by-election in Nairobi's Kibra constituency.
The fight started when Ruto's camp claimed that their rivals in the ruling party, led by Secretary General Raphael Tuju, had hatched a plot to field a weak candidate for the Kibra election in order to help opposition leader Raila Odinga's ODM candidate win.
However, the Uhuru wing of the party insisted that it was in charge of party affairs and accused Ruto's side of pushing for Mariga's candidature through a fake list of candidates published on Monday evening to hoodwink the electorate.
According to sources, Ruto's camp is keen on Mariga's candidature because of the Luhya population in Kibra constituency, which has traditionally voted for opposition ODM party.
Mariga, a professional football player, has been approached by DP Ruto and former Kakamega Senator Boni Khalwale to run for the seat left vacant following the death of Ken Okoth.
However, after hours of trying to convince him, Mariga was yet to respond to the request.
On the other hand, Jubilee party officials dismissed the Mariga candidature as unfounded because the footballer is not a registered party member and had not applied to run on the party ticket.
