Former teacher faces two novices to retain his seat

Jubilee’s Peter Kiplangat Cheruiyot and Mathew Langat of Kanu. 

When Kuresoi South MP won the UDA ticket in the party primaries, it looked like his reelection was assured.

The constituency in Nakuru County is regarded as a UDA stronghold.

Joseph Tonui, who is serving his first term in Parliament, trounced seasoned political heavyweights for the UDA ticket before other party candidates surfaced -Jubilee’s Peter Kiplangat Cheruiyot and Mathew Langat of Kanu.

This sent the former high school teacher and principal back to the drawing board.

“I am not out of the woods yet but I believe my performance will speak for me at the ballot as it did during the UDA nominations. I am confident of reelection on August 9,” said Tonui.

Among those he trounced in the UDA primaries were his predecessor Zakayo Cheruiyot, a former powerful Interior Principal Secretary, nominated MP Gideon Keter and former Nakuru Finance Executive Dr Peter Ketyenya.

Tonui resigned as a high school principal in 2013 to join politics and was appointed as the county executive committee member for Education until 2017 when he vied for the MP seat.

Education and rural electrification top the list of his achievements in the last five years in an area which has lagged behind in development as compared to other parts of the county.

“I have upgraded schools whose classrooms were in pathetic state. I also increased bursary allocation from Sh4 million to the current Sh30 million,” said Tonui.

He explained that he intends to increase bursary allocation to Sh50 million citing that the current amount has contributed to a growth in school enrolment in the area.

Tonui said that he increased rural electrification from five per cent to 60 per cent, opening up new business opportunities and bringing services closer.

Cheruiyot said he is confident of beating Tonui in the elections since he is a well-established politician in the constituency.

“I vied for the seat in 2013 on URP and emerged second after Zakayo. In 2016 I was elected Jubilee Nakuru branch secretary and promoted to the party’s regional director,” said Cheruiyot.

He explained that under his leadership and mobilisation, the party managed to get the most seats in the county.

“I now want to bring transparency and accountability in managing the constituency development fund. There has been lack of fairness on how projects are distributed,” said Cheruiyot.

He added that he will use the position to lobby for better roads and the lifting of land caveat affecting economic development among the residents.

“We need a leader who can talk. The leaders have failed to challenge the caveat for over two decades. They should pave way for new leadership that will deliver what the people need,” he said.

Langat said that he would make education his priority area, saying that high poverty rates in the area are linked to low literacy levels among the residents.

“Poor infrastructure and lack of enough funds has limited the number of candidates who qualify for direct entry to universities. If we address this, we shall help in changing the society,” said Langat.

The financial consultant added that he will ensure there is equal distribution of resources and transparency in the administration of the constituency development fund.

“On bursary, I will ensure only those who deserve it benefit. I will ensure that the minimum each student gets is Sh5,000 from the current Sh30,000 which has not helped much,” said Langat.

Langat noted that the constituency has 92 polling centres which he will use as centres of development strategy.

“I will ensure that my development projects are planned from the polling centres to realise a balanced distribution of resources,” he said.