Kanu is Jubilee's headache in Kericho polls

Kanu candidate for the Kericho senatorial seat, Paul Sang. (PHOTO: NIKKO TANUI/STANDARD)

Jubilee faces a real test from Kanu in the push to recapture the Kericho senatorial seat.

The by-election is being seen as a dress rehearsal for the two parties ahead of next year’s General Election.

Although six candidates have presented their nomination papers to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), the contest is turning out to be a two-horse race between Kanu’s Paul Sang and Aaron Cheruiyot of Jubilee Party.

Other candidates in the race are former Kipkelion MP Daniel Tonui, who is vying on a National Vision Party ticket, Wycliffe Ng’eno (Maendeleo Democratic Party) Johnstone Kirui (National Agenda Party) and Paul Sigei (United Democratic Movement).

Jubilee's Aaron Cheruiyot address voters. (PHOTO: NIKKO TANUI/ STANDARD)

Besides giving Kanu an opportunity to claw back some of the supremacy it enjoyed in the region from 1963 to 2002, the mini poll has created an avenue for Bomet Governor Isaac Ruto to test his popularity against Deputy President William Ruto.

Although the two political heavyweights were elected on a United Republican Party ticket, they have drifted apart and do not see eye to eye politically. While the DP wants URP folded to create a stronger Jubilee party, the governor has strongly opposed joining the new party and has been instrumental in the formation of Mashinani Development Party of Kenya (MDP-K).

Mr Sang, a former MP for Bureti and one-time Cabinet minister, is buoyed by the support he has received so far from the Bomet Governor-led MDP-K and Musalia Mudavadi’s Amani National Congress (ANC).

Governor Ruto has been leading a group of rebel URP leaders in a different political path away from the Deputy President’s.

The election, observers say, is an acid test for Jubilee coalition whose affiliate parties are in a few weeks expected to merge and create Jubilee Party, the vehicle President Uhuru Kenyatta is expected to use to defend his seat.

On the other hand Kanu — whose chairman is Baringo Senator Gideon Moi — will be seeking to re-invent itself and find its footing in the region’s politics.

At the same time, the Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut), which has a bone to pick with Jubilee over the way it has handled teachers’ salary demands, has backed Sang, who is a teacher by profession.

Sang is an experienced politician having served as the Bureti MP for two terms (1997-2002 and 2002-2007) and also in the Cabinet as Health minister in the grand coalition government.

Yesterday, Sang — who presented his party nomination papers to IEBC — was upbeat that he will have a second bite of the cherry.

Sang, who was accompanied by Kanu Secretary General Nick Salat, West Pokot Senator John Lonyangapuo, MPs Jonah Ng’eno (Emurua Dikir) and Alfred Keter (Nandi Hills), said he was assured of victory.

“Victory is in the air. I want everyone to know that I am out to win the seat and I can sense that victory... We will roll out a campaign that will be clean and I am sure I will win unless a miracle happens, which is unlikely,” he said.

Mr Salat told IEBC that Kericho residents would accept nothing short of a free and fair election.

“The electoral body must ensure that the election is not manipulated and it will announce the correct results,” he said.

But Jubilee is not leaving anything to chance in marketing its youthful candidate, who staged a major upset in last month’s party primaries, where he floored veteran politicians to clinch the party ticket.

Cheruiyot, 31, is banking on the support Jubilee enjoys in the South Rift region and the huge backing of young voters in region who believe that it is time to have one of their own in the Senate.