Siaya governor race: Nicholas Gumbo downplays Charles Owinos withdrawal as his running mate
Former Rarieda MP Nicholas Gumbo now says
that the withdrawal of former police spokesman Charles Owino as his running mate
will not affect his candidature in the Siaya governor race.
Gumbo, who is seeking the seat on a United
Democratic Movement (UDM) party ticket, has had Owino as his running mate until
Wednesday evening when it was confirmed that the latter had pulled out of the
race and returned to the police service.
The former MP says that even though he was
not aware that Owino was planning to pull the move, it has no significant
effect as he is still firmly in the race.
“The substantive candidate is not the deputy,
the substantive candidate is the governor. At the end of the day, the person
Siaya people will be voting for is not Charles Owino even if he was the deputy,
the substantive candidate they will be voting for is Engineer Nicholas Gumbo,”
he said.
“I am here in person; I wouldn’t be here if I
had any fears at all that my name will not be in the ballot.”
Speaking during an interview on Ramogi TV on
Wednesday, UDM Secretary General David Ohito confirmed that Mr. Owino had
tendered his withdrawal letter to the party secretariat four days ago.
He however sought to assure Eng. Gumbo’s
supporters that nothing had gone wrong yet; this amid reports that he had been
picked as Owino’s replacement.
Gumbo is set to face ODM party’s James Orengo and independent candidate William Ochieng’ in the battle to replace incumbent Governor Cornel Rasanga.
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