This archive report was first published on 23 October 2019.
McDonald Mariga, a former Harambee Stars player, may face his biggest challenge yet in politics after leaving football. He is vying for the Kibra parliamentary seat through a Jubilee Party ticket.
On October 20, during a campaign event, Mariga was faced with a tough question from a journalist at Woodley, Nairobi.
Mariga had organized a soccer match between local Kibra teams to promote his sports agenda, should he win the November 7 by-election to replace the late Ken Okoth.
Langata MP Nixon Korir intervened to save the former Inter Milan player from a difficult situation.
When asked about his campaign strategy, including security and his perception of the real situation in Kibra, Mariga responded in a video interview, saying, "Ground is good but today it was sports, I don't want to talk about many things. I want to launch sports in Kibra, and nurture talents." (The situation is unclear, but we focus on sports today, my goal is to promote talents).
Korir intervened, saying, "Generally, we are doing well… you know where the trouble is coming from. We are not a trouble-making group. You can see now that every player playing today is from different political parties, but today we are united by sports."
Other key figures in the mix include Bernard 'Imran' Okoth of ODM, Eluid Owalo of ANC, and Khamisi Butichi of Ford-Kenya. A total of 26 candidates are vying for the seat.
