Editor's Review

Yusuf Haji's son Abdikadir Haji will be declared Garissa Senator after the mini-polls failed to attract any other contestants.

Abdikadir Haji, brother to Director of Public Prosecutions Noordin Haji and son to late Senator Yusuf Haji is poised to become the next Garissa Senator.

The Garissa Senatorial by-election was slated for May 18, 2021, however, it will not be conducted as only one aspirant presented nomination papers as of the March 31, deadline.

As a result, The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) will declare Haji as the next Garissa senator after no other person submitted their nomination papers to the commission.

"After receiving nomination papers from one aspirant I have forwarded the information to the IEBC headquarters," County IEBC returning officer Hussein Gure was quoted by Daily Nation as saying.


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He further stated that he had done his work well, adding that there is no election when a candidate is unopposed.

Haji became a national sensation following his heroics during the Westgate attack. Images of him wielding a gun as he rescued victims from the mall earned him a presidential commendation.

Elders from Garissa County highlighted his bravery and selflessness as they endorsed him to replace his late father as a senator.

Haji will become the third politician in Kenya to have been elected unopposed.

Prior instances include the election of Moses Kuria as Gatundu South Member of Parliament in 2014.

His main rival in the 2014 mini-poll, Kiarie Kamere of the New Democrats Party quit the race before the elections.

The Gatundu by-election was occasioned by the demise of Joseph Ngugi Nyumu.

The other instance was the election Amani National Congress (ANC) Leader Musalia Mudavadi as Sabatia MP in 1989.

Mudavadi won the seat unopposed following the death of his father Moses Mudavadi that year.

Haji's run for the senate had the blessings of elders from Garissa County.

On Tuesday, March 23, he hosted the "Samawadhal Sagaales" - respected traditional elders at his Garissa home.

"Elders play an important role in fostering unity and cohesion in the community. It is a pleasure to have been blessed by them," Haji stated soon after the meeting.

IEBC on May 18, will conduct by-elections in Bonchari and Juja Constituencies and Rurii Ward.