Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru has defended her move to campaign for Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) candidate Imran Okoth in the concluded Kibra by-election.
Waiguru of the Jubilee Party was among non-ODM governors who joined the party leadership in the campaigns, despite Jubilee having fronted McDonald Mariga as its candidate.
In an interview on Tuesday, the county chief said that she campaigned in Kibra to show solidarity with her party leader Uhuru Kenyatta's truce with ODM leader Raila Odinga early last year.
She also pointed out that the race was not that serious for Jubilee Party given that Kibra was not its seat in the first place, which gave her space to campaign for her candidate of choice.
“What took me to Kibra was the handshake. Post the handshake, we find ourselves in a unique political space. Kibra was not really a matter of life and death for Jubilee," she said.
She spoke on Citizen TV's NewsNight.
Waiguru also stated that she seized the opportunity availed by the party leadership after it made it clear that those supporting a separate candidate will not be punished.
She based her argument on party Secretary General Raphael Tuju's remarks on the same show earlier, saying that the party had cleared those with a different opinion to proceed.
"If you remember, the Secretary-General of Jubilee is on record and here in Citizen when he was asked about the issue of some of the Jubilee members supporting and whether there would be punitive actions and he said there wouldn't. So already there had been clearance," she added.
Waiguru was not the only Jubilee member who showed support for ODM, with nominated MP Maina Kamanda and former Dagoretti South lawmaker Dennis Waweru doing the same.
Governors Charity Ngilu (Kitui), Alfred Mutua (Machakos) and Kivutha Kibwana (Makueni) joined ODM in the campaigns, in the race, Imran won, with Mariga coming a distant second.