DAP-K party Kisii Governor candidate- Sam Ongeri – has been dealt a blow after his running mate Josiah Maaga abandoned him.
Ongeri was present at a Gusii Leaders meeting with President Uhuru Kenyatta on Wednesday at the Kisii State Lodge when Maaga opted to support UDA candidate Ezekiel Machogu instead.
The ‘defection’ becomes the second to hit a governor candidate in Kisii in less than two months.
Manson Oyongo, a KNC candidate, too took a hit when his running mate switched to the ODM’s Simba Arati.
Maaga claimed to journalists that Bomachoge elders had urged him to defect.
He said he had been “recalled by the elders” who had forwarded him to deputise Ongeri.
“I don’t have the power on my own to make such a decision, I was only sent to deputise Ongeri with the same community that sent me there,” stated Maaga
According to Maaga, everything was done communally throughout the land, and the same community also approved of his decision to dump Ongeri.
Maaga declared that he would wait for more information from the same persons that “deployed me there.”
Ongeri’s failure to run a successful campaign when running for the County seat contributed to the community’s anxiety about him.
“His campaign has largely been shoddy and lacking in vigour,” said Maaga.
He said he already saw signs of losing the polls.
“We were losing and that is why I accept this decision to withdraw me from him so that we support Machogu,” said Maaga
