Uhuru expected in Kericho to contain Kanu as Ruto faces revolt

President Uhuru Kenyatta is expected to lead an army of Jubilee politicians over the weekend to try to kill the rise of his former party, Kanu, in Kericho as his deputy William Ruto faces an unprecedented revolt in one of his strongholds.

Last week, Mr Ruto came face to face with angry residents who did not mince their words and told him boldly that he had lost touch with them.

The DP held a series of campaign rallies in the county where he dismissed Kanu as a tool being used by the Opposition to infiltrate the South Rift and urged Kericho voters not to back its candidate, Mr Paul Sang.

He accused Kanu chairman Gideon Moi, rebellious Bomet Governor Isaac Ruto and Nandi Hills MP Alfred Keter and Johana Ng’eno of Emurua Dikirr of being used by Cord leader Raila Odinga to destroy his political backing in the region.

“Since Mr Odinga cannot come here himself, he is using some of our leaders to split the Rift Valley into the North and the South. The same people are even splitting the South Rift into Bomet and Kericho,” said DP Ruto as he campaigned for Jubilee candidate Aaron Cheruiyot.

LARGEST RALLY

The rally expected to be attended by Mr Kenyatta is set to be held at Kapkatet Stadium — likely to be Jubilee’s largest rally in the Kericho Senate by-election campaign.

Elsewhere, leaders and members of Parliament from the county have been criss-crossing the county consolidating support for the Jubilee ahead of the Kericho Senate by-election in an effort to continue fighting off a prevailing threat by Kanu to run way with the seat.

And seemingly to bolster the influence of Mr Ruto’s rallies held across the county last weekend, the former Kericho senator and now Energy Cabinet Secretary Charles Keter pleaded with locals not to abandon Jubilee, saying it had initiated a lot of development projects for them.

Mr Keter and MPs Benjamin Langat (Ainamoi) and Joseph Limo (Kipkelion East) led the onslaught against opposition parties in the last two days with a series of campaign rallies in Londiani, Kericho Town and Bureti.

“We are going to win this seat and we will visit all the areas of the county and convince voters to back our candidate,” said Mr Langat, who is leading the campaigns for Mr Cheruiyot.

ATTACKS ON GIDEON MOI

While Jubilee sweats to regain its hold of the county, Kanu — a party that Mr Kenyatta once used to vie for the presidency — maintained its strident counter-attacks on the Deputy President especially after Mr Ruto’s perceived personal attacks on Mr Gideon Moi, the son of former President Moi and Kanu chairman.

Kanu enjoys the support of Bomet Governor Isaac Ruto who led his team in campaigning in Kimologit in Kipkelion, Kipsolu in Belgut, Manyoror in Ainamoi and Koitaburot in Sigowet/Soin constituencies, among other areas.

The leaders urged the masses who turned up at their meetings to back Mr Sang while accusing the Jubilee administration of ignoring Kericho in terms of development and at the same time accusing Mr Ruto of being a master of abuses and uncouth language on his campaign trail.

On Tuesday, both Mr Cheruiyot and Mr Sang met at the burial of the father of prominent Kericho hotelier Richard Yegon in Kelunet, Bureti constituency, where they both pledged to run peaceful campaigns and called on their supporters to be peaceable before and after the mini-poll.

Mr Sang focused his Tuesday campaigns in Bureti on consolidating his support in an area that is largely seen as his bedrock with meetings in Roret, Chemosot and Mabasi.

DOOR-TO-DOOR CAMPAIGNS

United Democratic Movement candidate Paul Sigei Yaem, for his part, spent the better part of the day held up in a consultative forum with a group of elders and young people from across Bureti constituency in Kipsolu.

On Wednesday, Mr Yaem is expected to tour the county with UDM party leader Gen (Rtd) John Koech to increase his popularity.

The other candidates in the race are Bishop Daniel Tanui (National Vision Party), Mr David Mutai (New Democrats) and Kericho lawyer Wycliffe Ng’eno of the Maendeleo Democratic Party (MDP).

While Bishop Tanui has been holding larger campaigns across the county, the other two candidates appear to prefer silent door-to-door campaign strategies that they hope will help them clinch the seat when Kericho voters go to the ballot in a fortnight.