Impeached Governor Ferdinand Waititu, popularly known as Babayao, will vie for Kiambu governor post on the United Democratic Alliance ticket.
He is expected to face off against incumbent James Nyoro - who was once his deputy; Thika town MP Patrick Wainaina, who has been Nyoro’s nemesis, Senator Kimani Wamatangi and former county chief William Kabogo among others.
They will battle it out for the 1,180,920 Kiambu votes.
Kiambu county has 12 subcounties - Ruiru, which has the highest number of voters at 159,337, Thika (147,761), Juja (114,761), Githunguri (99,384), Kiambaa (95,413), Kikuyu (91,157) and Limuru (87, 258).
Others are Kabete (85,446), Kiambu (80,730), Lari (76,655), Gatundu South (75,858) and Gatundu North (67,598).
These numbers are however expected to rise as the IEBC undergoes a month-long continuous voter registration across the country.
Speaking to Star on Thursday, Waititu said the electorate has been reaching out to him to vie for the seat in 2022.
He termed his impeachment unconstitutional.
Waititu said cartels and his political enemies pushed for his removal from office due to his loyalty to Deputy President William Ruto.
“I fully support Deputy President William Ruto and through his party UDA, I will seek the governor post in Kiambu and I know the people will vote for me again," he said.
Waititu said he has constituted a team that will spearhead his campaign strategy ahead of 2022.
Two weeks ago while accompanying the deputy president in Kiambu, Waititu stated that he had chosen to work with Ruto because of his influence within the Mt Kenya region.
“I will be coming back to Kiambu in 2022. Do you want me to come back to Kiambu? I am with you and I am with the Deputy President in the UDA party,” Waititu declared.
The same day, the deputy president welcomed former TSP organising secretary Karungo wa Thang’wa to UDA.
The Senate voted for the removal of Waititu, after finding him guilty of three charges which were tabled before it by Kiambu county assembly.
In his defence, through his lawyers, Waititu had argued that the process was not procedural, adding it was not supported by the required two-thirds of Members of the Kiambu county assembly.
Edited by CM
