Charity Ngilu dropped out of the Kitui gubernatorial contest in the hope she will be part of the national government should Raila Odinga win the ongoing presidential elections.
Former Nairobi governor Mike Sonko on the other hand lost his bid to contest for the Mombasa gubernatorial seat in the 2022 General Election, currently ongoing.
The flamboyant politician lost all appeal avenues in Kenya after being impeached as Nairobi governor, forcing IEBC to deregister him as a candidate for Mombasa gubernatorial elections.
However, as voting began on august 9 in the morning, photos of the two appeared on the list of gubernatorial candidates for Mombasa and Kitui.
It only means by the time they were dropping from the contest, the Independent, Electoral, and Boundaries Commission had already printed ballot papers with their portrait photos.
Considering their popularity, it is obvious some voters will vote for them thereby destroying their votes which would have helped other worthy candidates in the elections to win.
In Kitui for instance, there are three gubernatorial candidates besides Ngilu who is on the ballot but not in the elections; Jonathan Mueke of UDA, David Musila of Jubile party, and Julias Malombe of Wiper party.
In the Mombasa race, besides Mike Sonko who is on the ballot but not in the gubernatorial contest, there are 7 candidates.
It is worth noting that the Independent Boundaries and Election Boundaries Commission suspended the gubernatorial election in Mombasa citing wring images printed on the ballot papers.
AbdulSwamad Sheriff of ODM, Hezron Awitti Bollo of VDP, and Hassan Omar of UDA among others.
Mike Sonko had intended to vie on a Wiper party ticket and many observed he was the most popular candidate and hence would easily make history as the first person to be governor in two different counties.
The outspoken politician, who might never get a chance to contest for any political seat again, has since decamped to William Ruto’s political wing of Kenya kwanza Alliance.
