Due to prevailing circumstances that saw two factions of Jubilee party wrangling footballer McDonald Mariga had reportedly bowed out of Jubilee party nominations for Kibra by-election.
On Friday, the party's National Elections Board announced that 16 people have been cleared to face vetting on Monday with Mr Mariga set to be one of them.
“As by 5.30 pm on Friday, we had received a list of 16 candidates. We are proceeding with interviews and by Monday afternoon, a decision on who will be the Jubilee party ticket flagbearer will be officially announced,” lawyer Andrew Musangi, the Jubilee NEB chairperson, told Nation.
Other candidates who have been cleared are Morris Kinyanjui, Walter Trenk, Ibrahim Said, Doreen Wasike, Oscar Kambona, Bukachi Chapia, Jane Githaiga, Jack Owino, Omondi Rajab, Daniel Adem, Daniel Orogo, Ramadhan Hussein, Frank Amollo, Timothy Kaimenyi and Geoffrey Mwangi.
But for Mariga to submit credentials on Friday, it took the intervention of Deputy President William Ruto, who is determined to have him on the race due to Luhya demographics in Kibra constituency.
The DP on Thursday reportedly called both Mariga and Jubilee party Elections Board where he insisted that his name must be on the list before being submitted to IEBC.
"Honestly, it's like he had given up. However, the DP took up the matter, convinced him to join the race. He instructed the NEB to ensure Mariga's name is on the party list," he said.
It's the Thursday call that made the former Intermilan and Purma midfielder to change his mind and try his luck on Monday. He is now likely to face another hurdle, with another faction in Jubilee fronting a different candidate.
A section of DP Ruto's allies led by Caleb Kositany have accused Secretary General Raphael Tuju of plotting to field a weaker candidate to give ODM a due advantage in November 7th polls.
The ODM party will field candidate on September 7th through competitive nominations. The seat was left vacant following the death of Ken Okoth last month.