Wajir West residents will on Thursday next week have a chance to elect their Member of Parliament (MP) in a by-election.
The residents will vote in by-election after the Supreme Court nullified the election of former MP Ahmed Kolosh.
The Thursday mini-poll is a two-horse-race between Kolosh who is flying the Jubilee Party ticket and Ibrahim Sheikh who is vying on KANU ticket.
Sheikh successfully petitioned the election of Kolosh that saw the apex court nullifiy it and ordered for fresh election.
It will be interesting to see on how the residents will vote in a by-election that has seen other candidates withdraw their candidature.
Mohamed Yusuf Elmi who was flying the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) Party ticket withdrew his candidature in support of Kolosh.
Professor Elmi's withdrawal is said to have been engineered by Deputy President William Ruto but the Orange Party claimed that the decision was in reciprocation to Jubilee Party earlier move not to field candidates in the recently concluded Embakasi South and Ugenya by-elections.
Noor Abdi of Labour Party of Kenya (LPK) and Abbas Nunow of Agano party also withdrew from the race and pledged to suppport Kolosh.
The two announced their withdrawal after meeting with DP Ruto and insisted it was in the interest of peace and Wajir people.
Kolosh has been taunted as the favorite to clinch the parliamentary seat owing to Jubilee Party's popularity, resources and influence in the constituency.
The former MP should however expect stiff competition from Sheikh.
Sheikh enjoys majority support and the fact that he successfully petitioned Kolosh victory in the 2017 general election means he is a serious contestant.
The KANU candidate has been conducting door to door campaigns to persuade voters to vote for him in the Thursday by-election.
Jubillee party top brass is expected in Wajir West on Tuesday to conclude campaigns for Kolosh ahead of the big day.
According to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), 27,544 registered voters distributed in 75 polling centers are expected to vote in the by-election.
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