Vocal Ndaragwa MP Jeremiah Kioni has bowed out of the race for Ndaragwa MP to concentrate on his new role as the Secretary General of the ruling party, Jubilee.
Kioni, a two terms MP and ally of President Uhuru Kenyatta got the coveted party position after the exit of Raphael Tuju.
It is not clear who among the aspirants challenging the MP will be endorsed by Kioni to run on a Jubilee ticket.
Ndaragwa Constituency is a stronghold of Deputy President William Ruto.
There were several candidates in the race but recent development in the political scene has seen two UDA aspirants chart different paths.
Engineer George Gachagua who lost to Kioni in 2017 is firmly on the driving seat in UDA, especially after former Ndaragwa MP Waweru Nderitu was picked to be running mate for former ABSA Bank Director Njoroge Muchiri who wants to be Nyandarua Governor on an UDA ticket.
The other hopeful for UDA ticket was Unicore Simon Ng’ang’a who has shifted to TSP of Mwangi Kiunjuri after it became clear Mr Ruto preferred Gachagua to be the flag bearer.
Unicore was sacked by Governor Francis Kimemia from his Cabinet where he served as Water and Environment Executive over alleged corruption.
Gachagua, a businessman in the water sector, caused a stir in his first bid in 2017 due to his oratory skills and well-oiled campaign.
In 2017, Gachagua had led in the Jubilee nominations on the First Day but the party postponed the primaries by three days fuelling rigging claims in favor of Kioni.
Gachagua is being supported by Majority of MCAs and aspirants and is said to have set up formidable campaign machinery.