Non-party aspirants worry Jubilee winners

Ainamoi MP Benjamin Langat speaks at Ainamoi Secondary School. He lost Kericho governor ticket to incumbent Paul Chepkwony. Now he is defending his seat as an independent. [Photo: File/Standard]

The high number of independent candidates is reshaping politics in the Rift Valley.

Other than the governor races, the parliamentary contests, where almost everyone defected to Jubilee with the hope of winning the seats at the primaries level, are promising to be more competitive than ever before.

In Nakuru County, at least 100 of the 891 aspirants who took part in the JP primaries have been cleared to contest as independents for various seats in the August General Election.

A group of losers in the primaries has aligned themselves to another from Mt Kenya region posing as a third force and have warned that President Uhuru Kenyatta can only ignore them at his own peril.

Ultimatum

But those who clinched the ruling party tickets dismissed the independents as unreliable attention seekers.

“For the losers to issue ultimatums to the President and the party shows their desperation and confusion after losing. It would appear that fairness in the nominations would only work when they are the victors, “ says Lee Kinyanjui, the Nakuru Jubilee gubernatorial nominee. In Kericho County, Ainamoi MP Benjamin Langat lost to Governor Paul Chepkwony in the contest for the party’s governorship ticket, but now his name will be on the ballot paper as an independent candidate, but for the parliamentary seat.

In the neighbouring Bomet County, Bomet East Constituency has the largest number of independent candidates, with four aspirants raring to take on Jubilee’s Beatrice Kones and her son Kevin Kipngetich of Chama Cha Mashinani (CCM).

Top on the list is area MP Bernard Bett who lost to Kones at the Jubilee primaries. Bett is yet to hit the campaign trail to popularise his re-election bid, but has cited public demand for his decision to run as an independent.

Others in the Bomet East race are Ken Rotich, Amos Rotich and Kipkoech Langat. The three are political debutants who kept off the muggy party primaries and decided to run as independent candidates.

In Chepalungu Constituency, area MP Paul Bii clinched the Jubilee ticket and will face off with Caro Ruto who is an independent candidate. Ms Ruto is trying her luck in Chepalungi for the second time after losing to Bii in 2013.

Things will not be easy for political parties in Narok County where a number of losers in the party primaries, especially in the parliamentary races, have gone party-less.

They include Agnes Pareiyo and Nelson Keshei in Narok North constituency.

The two came second and third, respectively, to lawyer Kaitikei Rotiken. Also in the race is incumbent MP Moitalel Kenta who ditched President Kenyatta’s TNA for ODM.

In Narok East, former Nakuru County Finance Chief Officer Torome Kapay has decided to go it party-less after he was trounced by incumbent Lemanken Aramat in the Jubilee primaries.

The two will battle it out with ODM’s Alfred Keriolale in the August 8 polls.

Mayone Matunke who came second to Narok South MP Korei ole Lemein in the JP nominations has also registered as an independent candidate.