Renowned television journalist cum political commentator Francis Gachuri has weighed in on football star McDonald Mariga's defeat in the Kibra by-election.
Speaking during News Gang segment on Citizen TV, Gachuri said the fact that Jubilee party leader President Uhuru Kenyatta did not come out strongly to support Mariga, put the parliamentary candidate at a great disadvantage.
“Mcdonald Mariga went into this race totally disadvantaged, why?...one the party leader was lukewarm in his support…,"Gachuri said.
President Kenyatta did not grace the campaigns of Mariga in Kibra, only appearing once with the candidate at State House to endorse him.
The journalist also attributed Mariga's apparent lack of strength to the civil war in the Jubilee party that has created factions.
Mariga underwent baptism by fire as he made his foray into politics from sports.
His candidature ran into a number of setbacks, the biggest one being his disqualification which was later overturned by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) Conflict Resolution Tribunal.
The IEBC returning officer Beatrice Muli had based her decision to disqualify Mariga on her failure to find the former footballer's name in the voters' register.