Two Nyamira governor bid to vie as running mates

Two aspirants for the Nyamira governor’s seat have dropped their ambitions and joined the race as running mates.

Dr Erneo Nyakiba will be Mr Walter Nyambati's running mate on a UDA ticket, while Mr Julius Mokogi will be Mr Joseph Kiangoi's running mate, vying on ANC's ticket.

Dr Nyakiba and Mr Nyambati were preparing to face off in UDA primaries due on Thursday, but decided to join hands after a long process of consensus building.

“It was not an easy thing to drop my candidature but because our common interest was a win for our party, ceding ground for my brother was a goodwill gesture,” Dr Nyakiba said.

Mr Mokogi said the ideals he had for the county government will be included in Kiangoi’s manifesto which is enshrined in the economic recovery of the county.

“Before we sat down to build consensus, we analysed our ideals. We then agreed to work together because we have a common agenda for the people of Nyamira,” Kiangoi said.

With only a few days to the upcoming party primaries, many aspirants from Nyamira are negotiating with opponents to avoid going to the ballot.

Already, such efforts have borne fruit for some aspirants.

Also expected to strike a deal before Thursday’s primaries are UDA Woman MP aspirants Ms Josephine Omanwa and Ms Alice Chae.

The two had negotiations recently that werfe co-chaired by Mr Nyambati and Dr Nyakiba.

“For the sake of regional balance, my friend Chae was requested to yield her ambition but we are yet to arrive at a consensus,” Omanwa said.

Ms Chae is the pioneer Woman MP but she lost to Jerusha Momanyi in 2017. She wants to reclaim the seat.

“If we go to the ballot, it will be the fairest game,” Ms Chae said during the meeting.

Jubilee Party is also strategising how best to engage aspirants to spare the party of primaries headache. But in some areas, aspirants have earned direct tickets.