Six MPs set their eyes on other seats

Kitui will be sending new faces to the 11th Parliament if the current MPs stick to their plans to contest other positions.

All six of the county’s MPs have indicated they will not defend their Parliamentary seats in next year’s General Election, leaving the contest largely open to newcomers.

The MPs are shifting focus to contest the Presidency, Governorship and Senate.

Starting the swing was Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka who announced that he would not defend Mwingi North, which he has held since 1985, so he could contest the Presidency.

The new Elections Act forbids Presidential contestants from also trying to win a Parliamentary seat.

Mr Musyoka urged his constituents to begin consultations on who should succeed him as their MP, saying he wanted to give young leaders a chance.

Of the remaining five MPs, two have expressed interest in the senate while three have declared that they will contest the governorship.

Water minister Charity Ngilu (Kitui Central) wants to challenge assistant Defence minister David Musila (Mwingi South) as the pioneer senator for Kitui, while Charles Nyamai (Kitui West), Isaac Muoki (Kitui South) and Kiema Kilonzo (Mutito) have all said they want to be governor.

The three are facing a stiff challenge from prominent Nairobi businessman Kennedy Ngumbau Mulwa, who hopes to convince voters they should elect a technocrat rather than a politician, to manage the county’s huge mineral and tourism wealth.

This new development, coupled with the anticipated creation of two more constituencies, has generated a lot of interest within the county with many hopeful candidates saying the field will be level for the first time because no candidate will enjoy the advantage of being a sitting MP.

However, some fear that the sitting MPs may want to influence the election of their successors by endorsing and campaigning for their cronies.

For instance, in Mwingi South sources say the VP is trying to persuade his ally, Nairobi businessman Joe Mutambu, to drop his candidature for the governorship after Mr Musila declared his interest in the senate.

Both Mr Musila and Mr Mutambu, are from Mwingi South and the VP feels it would have complicated the county’s political arithmetic by concentrating power in one constituency.

However, Mr Mutambu says nothing has been agreed and his options were still open.

In the VP’s Mwingi North, Mr Josphat Mulyungi, who lost to Mr Musyoka in four elections and hopefuls Mr Musyimi Nzengu and Mr Job Mwangangi are upbeat, although they agreed that whoever gets the VP’s endorsement will have a head start in his campaigns.

The newcomers see this as the best opportunity to bring a new order to the region, banishing the old names who have held sway since the early 1970s.

Some of the old political names include former MPs Mwangu Ivuti and Nyiva Mwendwa who have been in Parliament for 20 years but at different intervals. The two politicians, both aged 72, were first elected in 1974.

In Kitui South, university lecturer Rachel Kaki Nyamai and medic Paul Nganda Mwaniki are among a new generation seeking leadership in the constituency for long associated with Mr Muoki and Mr Ivuti.