Salat cautions aspirants seeking Jubilee ticket

The battle for the North Rift vote between Kanu and Jubilee has intensified, with the independence party warning those planning to seek the ruling coalition ticket they risked being locked out.

Kanu Secretary-General Nick Salat said the party was the only one that still practised democracy and transparency. “I urge first time aspirants to join Kanu as they stand no chance in Jubilee. Come home when there is still time,” said Mr Salat in Baringo County on Saturday.

He made the remarks in the presence of Kanu chairman Gideon Moi, Baringo Central MP Sammy Mwaita and Woman Representative Grace Kiptui.

Mr Mwaita and Ms Kiptui are Jubilee supporters and are seeking re-election on that party’s ticket.

Mr Salat cautioned the Kalenjin community against “blindly” supporting the new Jubilee Party. “We don’t want a post-dated cheque in 2022. We may go to the bank and be told the cheque has bounced,” said Mr Salat.

Both parties have intensified their activities in the North Rift, with President Uhuru Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto touring the region last week.

Analysts see Kanu and Bomet Governor Isaac Ruto’s Chama Cha Mashinani as the biggest beneficiaries in case of a falling out in Jubilee.

Some Kanu aspirants who spoke to the Nation said they feared being given a raw deal during the primaries.

UNDER PRESSURE

“We fear there will be no fairness during the nominations. We’ve been sidelined in all party affairs, with sitting MPs left to control things at the grassroots,” said Mr Nicholas Koros, a ward aspirant in Baringo North sub-county.

The rivalry for the control of the Rift Valley vote between Kanu and Jubilee was evident during President Kenyatta and Mr Ruto’s tour of West-Pokot County, a perceived Kanu stronghold last week.

West Pokot Senator John Lonyangapuo who was elected on a Kanu ticket was under pressure to join Jubilee if his chances of a second term were anything to go by.

But Prof Lonyangapuo maintained that the independence party, he said, was still affiliated to Jubilee Party, adding that West Pokot will support President Kenyatta’s re-election next year.

“Kanu is not going anywhere. In the last poll, West Pokot County delivered 90 per cent votes for Jubilee. This time we shall vote 99.9 per cent,” said Prof Lonyangapuo.

He spoke during the launch of the Sh1.2 billion Sigor Wei Wei Integrated Development Project Phase III in West Pokot.

But Sigor MP Phillip Rotino has rubbished Prof Lonyangapuo’s remarks, saying that Kanu was dead in the area.

“This county is a Jubilee zone. Kanu tulimaliza maneno yake kitambo sana (We are done with issues to do with Kanu),” said Mr Rotino, who was elected on a United Republican Party ticket.

He claimed that Kanu had marginalized West Pokot for many years and had nothing new to offer the region.

Prof Lonyangapuo hopes to unseat West Pokot Governor Simon Kachapin on a Kanu ticket.