Cecily Mbarire of the UDA party defeated former Embu senator Lenny Kivuti to clinch the Embu gubernatorial seat in a hotly contested race.

Kivuti, who made his first unsuccessful stab at the seat in 2017, garnered 105,246 votes while Mbarire got 108,610 votes.

Mbarire, the governor-elect, while thanking her supporters for entrusting her with the position said that she looks forward to serving them in a big way and to making Embu a true land of opportunity.

“I want to thank everyone who helped me traverse the whole county looking for votes and I look forward to serving the people of Embu in a big way and making Embu a true land of opportunity,” Mbarire said.

She also thanked locals for having confidence in her and electing her as the first female governor of Embu.

“I want to thank the great people of Embu county for having confidence in me and for electing the first female governor in Embu county, I feel very humbled,” she said.

She commended the multi-agency security team for providing security throughout the election process and the IEBC for delivering a free, just and credible election.

“I want to thank the security agencies here in the county who have made sure that we manage to get through the whole process without major challenges, who have made sure that there was peace and calm throughout the county and IEBC for delivering a free, just and credible election,” she added.