By Mangoa Mosota and
Michael Wesonga

As excited voters carried Augustino Neto Oyugi shoulder-high after being declared winner of the Ndhiwa by-election, he looked overtly uncomfortable.

“That is enough,” he said.

His supporters obeyed but they were shocked. How was their new MP going to step in the mud outside the Ndhiwa Multi-Purpose Hall where voter tallying had just been finalised?

They looked at him again, hoping he would change his mind and settle on their shoulders for the victory lap around the venue.  Neto, 35, was not going to do it.

Despite winning nearly 90 per cent of the votes cast, beating his closest rival, Kanu’s Tom Alila who only managed 2,290 votes out of the 24,255 cast on Monday night, Neto was not ready to enjoy the trappings of power. Not yet.

While he campaigned for the seat left vacant after the death of former MP Joshua Ojode in June, Neto presented himself as a man close to his people.

Thus jumping onto his people’s shoulders was to do what was contrary to his promised servant leadership.

When he wooed the electorate, Neto spoke to them in polished English, a language they loved listening to. Among them, speaking Kiswahili is a waste of time as they can only grasp about ten per cent of what is said.

And for them, a leader worth his name must speak impeccable English — evidence of thorough training in ‘good’ schools such as Alliance Boys at which Neto studied.

Fine language

Neto’s shoes contrast his fine language. He puts on sandals made from used tyres, often referred to as Akala.
But why these sandals when when his peers sport designer shoes?

“They are comfortable. And I like them,” he says. “I have been wearing them for the last three years, and do not intend to discard them now that I am an MP.”

He has two pairs — a simple one that cost him Sh250 and a designer pair. “I am comfortable with both pairs, and I believe they are my identity,” he tells The Standard in an interview.

He says simplicity does not harm anyone, but is the hallmark of living a fulfilling life.

“I have been to remote places in Turkana, and met rich men who own hundreds of cattle but they put on Akala. The experience humbled me,” explains the MP-elect who studied Law at the University of Nairobi. The House regulations may, however, not allow him to wear his favourite sandals to the chambers.

Role model

Neto says he was brought up in a humble family. He lost his father while he was in Form Two in the early 1990s.

“My mother struggled to pay my fees,” he says, adding that he comes from a polygamous family of 13 siblings.

The father of one says he will not only represent his constituency, but the millions of youth in the country, who are yearning for role models. “The youth should know that success in whatever they do does not come easy. One has to consistently work hard,” he says.

Better my life

He adds: “I put an average 20 hours daily in work. It is a price I have to pay to better my life.”

For councillor Jane Wangui Murithi, her interaction with people of all walks of life was the secret behind her victory.

She was officially declared the winner of the Eldoret North Market Ward after a four-year wait.

The National Alliance (TNA) candidate went to court to challenge the ODM councillor William Kiptum’s win immediately after the 2007 General Election, claiming that she was rigged out. The ruling was in her favour.

The jubilant and confident Wangui exploded with joy when she was declared winner of the by-election at Eldoret Municipal Hall tallying centre on Monday evening. Her supporters danced, shouted, sang, chanted and carried each other shoulder high in celebrating Wangui’s victory.

With her was ODM’s contestant Caustencia Jepchirchir who hugged her and said, “We will work together as associates, but I  kindly request my sister to focus on a higher seat next time and leave this one for me.”

The TNA candidate gave her second competitor United Republican Party’s Stephen Mugwiri a thrashing by more than 1,500 vote margin in a pre-dominantly URP region.

“I thank the Almighty God for helping me reclaim what had all along been rightfully mine and my supporters for standing by me through all those frustrating moments of the trial,” she stated.

She says the personal interaction she had with her voters helped her win. The electorate  want an approachable person whom she proved to be, she says.

She told the voters that she was going to transform the Eldoret Central Market into a modern utility friendly to all customers unlike its present dirty state.

And she wants to do in the few months before next March 4 General Election.