By Prudence Minayo
The political push and shove pitting Deputy President William Ruto on one side against the might of President Uhuru Kenyatta and former premier Raila Odinga on the other has been tested in the just concluded Msambweni parliamentary seat. Ruto’s man, Feisal Bader, won the Msambweni parliamentary seat giving the DP political points as the country’s gears of the 2022 general elections. The seat was left vacant when Suleiman Dori passed away March this year.
As he takes over from the late MP, he has promised to work with the opponents for the sake of his constituency. His campaign was backed up by a number of politicians across the country and so many took to social media to congratulate him including the deputy president William Ruto. Hon. William Ruto tweeted a congratulatory message to him thanking the people and also crediting God for the win.
Age
The newly elected member of parliament is 34 years old.
Family
Not much is known about his family as he has kept the details private. The only information about his family is that he is the nephew of Suleiman Dora.
Politics
Feisal was a member of the Orange Democratic Movement before he jumped ship. He opted out of the party because he did not have faith with the party nominations and decided to vie for the Msambweni parliamentary seat as an independent candidate. An article by Nation also quotes him saying that running as an independent candidate did not mean he was Ruto’s project.
“Running as an independent candidate should not be seen that I am Ruto’s project. I read malice in the ODM party and opted out, I urge competitors to perform peaceful campaigns, I am confident that I will carry the day,” he said.
The campaigns were marred with a lot of disruptions with a number of leaders clashing. The ODM campaign team and his team did not see eye to eye.
He received a lot of support from former Machakos senator Johnston Muthama, Kilifi North Member of Parliament Owen Baya, Aisha Jumwa, Hassan Omar, Bony Khaluale and the deputy president William Ruto.
His biggest rival was ODM’s Omar Boga who was confident of his win but has gracefully accepted defeat as Feisal emerged the winner. Feudal got 15,251 votes and Boga garnered 10,442 votes.
The MP celebrated his victory and thanked the people of Msambweni promising to work with opponents for the good of the constituency.
“ I want to thank the people of Msambweni for believing in me. I want to thank all of the people who walked with me through to victory. We will work with our opponents for the sake of the constituency,” he said in his acceptance speech.
