Kanu threatens to spoil party for JAP in Kericho

The resurgence of Senator Gideon Moi’s Kanu in the South Rift, support of teachers and questions around the political inexperience of Jubilee candidate Aaron Cheruiyot threaten to complicate things for Deputy President William Ruto in the upcoming Kericho Senate polls.

There are strong indications that the by-election will not be a walk in the park for Mr Ruto who is seeking to stamp his authority on the Kalenjin Rift valley amid opposition from some politicians.

Jubilee Alliance Party (JAP) suffered a blow on Wednesday after a section of its supporters in Kipkelion West Constituency declared support for Kanu’s candidate Mr Paul Sang following claims that JAP primaries were skewed in favour of one candidate.

Former Deputy Prime Minister Musalia Mudavadi’s party, the Amani National Congress, has also thrown its weight behind the Kanu candidate, a former Cabinet minister.

And Kanu is bullish. Secretary-General Nick Salat said the signs were there for all to see.

“What is happening in Kericho has been coming for a long time. Jubilee saw the signs and chose to ignore. As Kanu, we are in this to win,” said Mr Salat, who had joined Mr Moi and Bomet Governor Isaac Ruto to a well-attended launch of Mr Sang’s campaign.

Mr Moi has been battling for control of the Rift Valley votes with the Deputy President and a win for his candidate in the Kericho mini-poll will be a vindication that his efforts are bearing fruit.

During the 2013 General Election, the United Republican Party (URP) swept all the seats in Bomet and Kericho counties, except the Belgut Parliamentary and Seretut-Cheptororiet Ward which were won by Kanu and the Kenya National Congress (KNC) respectively.

TOUGH JOB
With such a sterling performance by his party, the URP leader, Mr Ruto, had sent a clear message that he was fully in charge of the south rift and that disloyalty would stand no chance.

However, the run-up to the Kericho Senate by-election shows that it will be an uphill task for JAP – the successor of URP – with the DP’s political rivals working overboard to wrest control of the region.

The by-election is slated for March 7.

In Kipkelion West Constituency, just a week after the JAP nomination, residents publicly denounced Mr Cheruiyot and declared their support for Mr Sang, who they said they would use “to teach Jubilee a lesson”.

Former Kipkelion councillor Richard Bii led the more than 300 residents in saying that no amount of persuasion or coercion would make them change their decision to support Mr Sang.

“We are prepared to travel far and wide and even conduct door-to-door campaigns for Mr Sang so that we can compel the Jubilee Alliance Party to realise its faults and put its house in order,” he said.

ANC has also voiced support for Mr Sang’s bid, with teachers, through their trade unions, also vowing to punish Jubilee for allegedly frustrating their bid for higher pay.

The teachers’ support was voiced by Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) Secretary-General Wilson Sossion who has on a number of occasions publicly endorsed Mr Sang.

But speaking in Bureti, Mr Cheruiyot, 30, dismissed the punishment plan as being virtually impossible, noting that Kericho County was a Jubilee zone and would vote for him almost to a man on March 7.

“Some politicians must know that this is politics we are playing and not a game of chess. Thinking that you can use this Senate race to punish Jubilee by asking voters to elect a person none other than the JAP candidate will not work,” he said.