This archive report was first published on 22 October 2019.
Former Harambee Stars player McDonald Mariga's bid to transition from football to politics has hit a snag, with the candidate struggling to respond to questions from journalists during his campaign trail.
On Sunday, Mariga organized a football tournament in Kibra, which he used as an opportunity to push for his sports agenda in the event he is elected to office to succeed the late Ken Okoth on November 7.
However, Mariga's response to a question from NTV journalist Seth Olale on live TV left much to be desired, with the intervention of Langata lawmaker Nixon Korir required to help the former Inter Milan midfielder respond.
Seth Olale: Mariga, it is just three weeks to the by-election, so far, in terms of your strategy, is it working for you? And in terms of the issues raised by your campaign trail on security have those been addressed? And so far how is the ground in Kibra?
Mariga (responds in Swahili): Ground iko poa but today ilikuwa mambo ya sports sitaki kuongelea mambo mingi, Nataka tulaunch sports Kibra, na tu-nurture talents.
At this point, Korir interjected and continued answering the question, despite indications from the journalists present that Mariga should field the questions.
Korir: We are doing well, you know where the violence is coming from. You can see now all the players playing today are from different political parties but we have been unified today by football.
Mariga is one of the front runners in the Kibra by-election, which has attracted a total of 26 contestants, including ODM's Bernard 'Imran' Okoth, Eluid Owalo of ANC, and Khamisi Butichi of Ford-Kenya.
