Kenyan Musician turned politician Kevin Kioko Bahati  is among the 14 listed  candidates battling for Mathare Constituency seat.

Kioko  popularly known as Bahati, was in March this year unveiled by Jubilee Party as its Mathare Constituency parliamentary candidate.

The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) on Sunday, July 10, released a gazette notice of candidates who will vie for various positions in the August 9th General Election.

For Bahati meaning "Good luck" in Swahili, this has not been a walk in park following many hurdles in his quest to represent the people of Mathare constituency as their next member of parliament.

The gospel-turned-secular musician has always been coerced by the Azimio La Umoja-One Kenya alliance to drop his bid in favor of Antony Oluoch.

Accordng to the gazette notice, Bahati will contest the seat under the Jubilee party.

At some point during a campaign  tour in Mathare, Bahati was denied a chance to address the people of Embakasi East during a political rally in the area.

In welcoming the good news, Bahati had this to say on Twitter, "When Jesus says yes, nobody can say no! I have been the most fought MP candidate; my loosing opponent tried everything to threaten me and make sure I step down but look at what God has done! It’s official now."

Meanwhile, the gazette notice, has listed four presidential candidates and their running mates.

The candidates include Azimio la Umoja’s Raila Odinga, Kenya Kwanza’s William Ruto, George Luchiri Wajackoyah of Roots Party and Waihiga Mwaure of Agano Party.

Conspicuously absent in the notice is Mike Sonko, who is eyeing the Mombasa gubernatorial position, and Kisauni MP Ali Mbogo who was suspected to be Wiper’s preferred replacement for Sonko.

Sonko’s name is amiss on the list due to the fact that he has a pending case before a three-judge bench in a court in Mombasa, and the IEBC disputes tribunal has not yet cleared him to vie.

According to the tribunal, Sonko failed to submit his original degree certificate as well as a certified copy of the same, in breach of article 75 of the Kenyan constitution.

The tribunal also heard that although Sonko had presented copies that had been certified by his advocate during the last poll, the degree requirement in 2022 applied to all candidates.

The IEBC had also barred Sonko from vying following his impeachment in 2018.

Also missing from the list is Karungo Thang’wa who had been picked as the UDA candidate in the Kiambu senatorial race.