Jubilee Party Secretary-General Raphael Tuju has set the record straight concerning the withdrawal of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party's candidate from the Wajir West by-election.
Addressing the media, Tuju said the decision was reached after 'high level consultation' between the leadership of ODM and Jubilee party.
"This is geared towards reducing political tension and polarisation as President Kenyatta and Raila Odinga work on achieving the Building Bridges Initiative goals," Tuju said.
He thanked the ODM party from withdrawing from the contest.
"On behalf of the Jubilee Party, I thank the ODM Party for their decision to withdraw from the by-election following high-level consultations by the leadership of the two parties," he tweeted.
The race was proving to be a dilemma for the two parties due to the March 9 truce between Uhuru and Raila.
Deputy President William Ruto had told ODM to brace for a tough race.
Jubilee is fielding immediate former MP Ahmed Kolosh while ODM was fronting university scholar Yussuf Elmi.
Interestingly Kolosh had won the seat on an ODM ticket in 2017 before his election was overturned by the apex court.
ODM then chose to back Elmi which saw Kolosh decamp to Jubilee.