On Tuesday night, NTV hosted four candidates vying for the vacant Kibra parliamentary seat ahead of the by-election set for November 07.
The four namely; Malasen Hamida (United Green Movement Party), Eliud Owalo (ANC), Khamisi Butichi (Ford Kenya) and Elijah Nyamwamu (NARC Kenya) are among more than 20 candidates who have been cleared by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to vie for the seat.
Among those curiously missing from the Sidebar show were ODM’s Bernard Otieno, alias Imran and Jubilee party’s footballer-turned-politician McDonald Mariga.
Sidebar's host Ken Mijungu said they invited every candidate, but unfortunately most of them did not show up due to one reason or another.
“We invited everyone on the table including the ODM candidate who we were told we cannot have together with this panel, that he has to have a seat on this table alone. Unfortunately, we could not bend the rules of Sidebar. ODM wanted the candidate to be on this table alone,” said Mijungu.
Concerning Mariga, Mijungu said that they could not reach him in time for the interview.
“We also invited the Jubilee candidate McDonald Mariga who unfortunately we have been trying to contact for the past two days. We have not been able to have contact with Mariga, that is why he is not on the table,” he added.
The winner of the by-election will replace the late Ken Okoth, who died in July.