Hiiraan Online
Friday August 11, 2017
Incumbent Yusuf Hassan has won his bid for re-election in Kamukunji. CREDIT: TWITTER
Nairobi (HOL) - Yusuf Hassan has been re-elected as the Member of Parliament for the Kamukunji constituency in east central Nairobi and thus will represent the residents in Eastleigh - an important economic hub in Nairobi and home to tens of thousands of Somali immigrants - for a second term.
Mr. Hassan who was running under the jubilee ticket won 38 404 votes, giving him a total of 51% of the total vote share. Ahmed Ibrahim came a distant second with 20, 758 votes (27.58%).
The former journalist and communications manager launched an ambitious campaign manifesto earlier this year in which he promised to improve the roads, resolve housing issues and create opportunities for the youth in his riding.
Hassan was urged to run for office by Eastleigh’s bustling business community. H was first elected to Parliament in a contentious by-election in August 2011 after the Kenyan High Court declared the results from the 2007 election invalid.
Before going into politics Hassan was a journalist with the Voice of Kenya and was a producer for the BBC external service. He later transitioned a communications director for the UNHCR and finally served as the director of IRIN, a news arm for the UN.