CCM hopes to defeat Jubilee in contest for Emurua Dikirr

Emurua Dikirr MP Johana Ngeno (left) shares a word with Bomet Governor Isaac Ruto during a Chama Cha Mashinani rally in Ndanai, Bomet County, on December 4, 2016. Mr Ngeno will be banking on his development record to seek re-election. PHOTO | BENSON MOMANYI | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • The contest will pit incumbent Johanna Ng’eno against businessman David Keter.
  • Mr Keter is campaigning on a platform of youth empowerment, job creation and equitable distribution of the CDF.

The battle for the Emurua Dikirr constituency seat in the August 8 General Election will be a Jubilee-Chama Cha Mashinani (CCM) affair.

The contest will pit incumbent Johana Ngeno against businessman David Keter.

Mr Ngeno, who was elected on a Kenya National Congress ticket in 2013, is now a CCM zealot and is on the frontline in the party’s onslaught on the South Rift to counter Jubilee’s absolutism.

RUNNING MATE
He will be banking on his development record to seek re-election and to hold off a powerful challenge from Mr Keter.

Mr Ngeno was considered as the best bet for Patrick Ntutu’s running mate in the race for the Narok governorship seat before he announced his intention to defend his seat.

Mr Ntutu later chose Weldon Rop, Mr Ng’eno’s close neighbour, as his second-in-command.

TUNAI'S CRITIC
The Isaac Ruto-led CCM hopes to bag the parliamentary seat, besides sweeping Member of Counter Assembly seats in the constituency’s four wards; Ilkerin, Kapsasian, Mogondo and Ololmasani.

Mr Ngeno, who has expressed confidence that his party would clinch most seats, has never patched up with Governor Samuel Tunai ever since their acrimonious fallout over his disputed 2007 election victory.

He remains a fierce critic of Governor Tunai’s administration and has vowed to rally all his supporters behind the Narok West MP.

KETER'S PRIORITIES
Mr Keter garnered 12,180 votes to emerge the winner in the just-concluded Jubilee primaries.

Paul Tonui, Weldon Mutai, Kibet Rono and John Saitoti had 5,883, 5,611, 725 and 420 votes respectively.

Popularly known as ‘Dollarline’, Mr Keter is campaigning on a platform of youth empowerment, job creation and equitable distribution of the Constituency Development Fund.

He has mounted a strong bid to oust Mr Ngeno and never ceases to chide him for being unmarried at his age, but the latter always downplays those criticisms.

TOP SEAT
On his part, Mr Ngeno boasts of having improved residents’ access to health care, construction of classrooms and provision of learning aids and stationery in schools.

“My activism also saw the Kipsigis community given their own constituency with four wards prior to the 2013 elections,” Mr Ngeno said.

Jubilee aspirants will also engage rivals from CCM in titanic duels for elective seats in counties across the South Rift.

The battle for the top seat in Narok County will see Governor Tunai of Jubilee lock horns with CCM’s Patrick Ntutu.

RUTO'S CHALLENGER
The choice of running mate by the two sworn rivals has raised the stakes even higher.

While Mr Ntutu has settled on a youthful Mr Weldon Rop, Mr Tunai has not shown any intention to replace Ms Evelyne Aruasa, thus both have staked a claim on the swing Kipsigis vote in the county.

In Bomet, Dr Joyce Laboso will challenge incumbent governor and CCM leader Isaac Ruto.

Mrs Laboso had a rousing victory in the recently-ended Jubilee primaries, solidifying her position as Mr Ruto’s main challenger in the August 8 election.

NTIMAMA'S DAUGHTER
In the Narok woman rep race, Lydia Masikonte will use the CCM ticket to take on Soipan Kudate, the incumbent, who is defending her seat on a Jubilee ticket.

The daughter of former cabinet minister William ole Ntimama has bounced back after a humiliating defeat at the last polls in which she emerged third.

She hopes to revive the Ntimama family’s influence in regional politics following his demise in September last year.

Recent statistics from the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission showed that Jubilee had the highest number of nominees than any other party in the coming polls at 1,801 while CCM was eighth out of 64 political parties with 372 nominees.