Dagoretti North lawmaker Simba Arati has thrown his support behind Ugenya MP-elect David Ochieng's election, a week after he won the seat he lost in 2017.

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Arati who hails from the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) said that the party indeed pushed Ochieng out, hence his bid on the Movement for Democracy and Growth (MDG) party.

He noted that the latter was repeatedly mistreated by the party ahead of the 2017 polls, leading to his decision to decamp to the MDG party before losing to ODM's Chris Karan.

"Ochieng ni rafiki yangu na ni kweli kwamba alidhulumiwa na chama kabla ya 2017, hapo hatuwezi kataa (Ochieng is a friend of mine and I cannot deny the fact that the party indeed mistreated and pushed him out before 2017)," Arati said.

The parliamentarian was speaking on Radio Jambo's Mazungumzo Waziwazi show on Wednesday evening.

Arati, however, noted that the issue shouldn't be taken too seriously and be used as a judgement that ODM is losing grip in the nation.

He added that Ochieng remains a close friend of the party, being its former member, adding that his win can still be considered an ODM win.

"Ni vyema kwamba hakuhamia chama kingine ila aliunda chake mwenyewe. Pia hajasikika popote akitusi chama cha ODM, kwa hivyo tuko na kila sababu ya kusema eti tulishinda kiti hicho. (He remains a friend of ODM as despite our disagreements he never decamped to another party but established his own. He has also maintained the respect he had for ODM. Therefore, we consider his victory ours)," the MP said.

In an interview on Citizen TV on Tuesday, Ochieng said that he is ready to work with ODM leader Raila Odinga and all other leaders.

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