[President Uhuru Kenyatta in a past event at Kisii. His duel against Chief Justice David Maraga could have resulted to voter apathy in Gusii, the home to CJ. Photo/Nation]
Intrigues between President Uhuru Kenyatta and Cheif Justice David Maraga may have substantially affected October presidential polls in Gusii region, says Gideon Mamboleo.
Prior to the controversial poll, the decision by Maraga's Supreme Court to annul Uhuru's August victory precipitated unwarranted attacks on the judiciary mainly waged by Jubilee team.
And with the unconvincing turnout, Mamboleo says protests in defense of Maraga, who was under siege fron top leadership may have translated to voter apathy.
"Uhuru's remarks that he will discipline Supreme Court judges if he wins and subsequent withdrawal of Raila Odinga from the race is the reason why people never turned to vote.
"You so the protests from Gusii people and they were keen to save Maraga from the wrath. The poor outcome was basically a response to the war against the judiciary," he says.
On a sharp contrast, Uhuru garnered 100, 000 votes from entire Kisii County compared to 175,000 in August.
A similar trend was manifested in the neighboring Nyamira where Uhuru's victory declined from 101,000 to 65, 000 another sharp indication of widespread voter apathy.
Despite being part of the team that declared August elections invalid however, Maraga did take part in the October elections which was widely boycotted across the country.