Is Gideon’s fall in Baringo end of Moi dynasty?
Baringo Senator Gideon Moi has been dealt a humiliating defeat in his backyard after Kanu lost all seats to Deputy President William Ruto’s United Democratic Alliance candidates.
Apart from losing his Senate seat to former Baringo North MP William Cheptumo, Kanu also lost the Woman Representative seat, which was held by Gladwell Cheruiyot, to UDA’s Florence Jematia.
The independence party only retained the Tiaty parliamentary seat which was won by William Kamket, a close ally of Moi.
Kanu’s defeat is seen as a big win for the Deputy President who has been embroiled in a protracted battle of supremacy with the senator, the son of Kenya’s second president Daniel arap Moi, for the control of the vote-rich Rift Valley region.
Gideon is affiliated with the Azimio-One Kenya coalition of Raila Odinga who ran against Ruto in the Tuesday presidential race.
But what led to the Kanu Senator being rejected in his own home county?
County residents who spoke to People Daily yesterday attributed Moi’s dwindling political fortunes to what they termed as being out of touch with the issues affecting the people.
Nicholas Koros, a youth leader in the region accused the senator’s handlers of misleading him that all was well on the ground yet the region was shifting to UDA.
“The senator has not been having the interests of the people at heart. We elect him and he disappears only to resurface after five years to seek our votes. This time we said enough is enough,” Koros told People Daily.
By press time yesterday, Cheptumo was leading with 98,287 votes against Moi’s 40,332 votes.
Moi has been struggling to shrug off the absentee tag with residents accusing him of abandoning them.
Speaking at a rally in Baringo a few months ago, Elgeyo-Marakwet Senator Kipchumba Murkomen said he had “appointed himself acting Baringo Senator” due to what he said was the Senator’s long absence in the county.
Absentee senator?
Moi has, however, defended himself from the absentee accusations arguing that his work was not at the grassroots but to fight for the county’s welfare at the national level.
“My work does not entail staying here in the county. My work is to fight for the welfare of the county in Nairobi and for more resources to come here,” said the Senator when he launched his campaigns at his Sacho home last month.
Kanu Secretary General Nick Salat also sought to defend the Senator from critics who claim that he rarely spent time in the county.
“Nobody should prefect the Senator. Everybody will be charged according to the electoral office he is in,” said Salat.
Others attributed Moi’s failure to recapture the seat to his indecisiveness in the run-up to the election which confused many of his supporters.
Early in the year, he had announced that he would not defend his seat but instead focus on national politics, only to declare at the last minute that he would run for a third term.
After the declaration, Murkomen scoffed at Moi’s decision to go for a “small county seat” yet he had declared that his focus was on vying for the presidency. “It is laughable that he is vying for the Baringo senate seat now. This is like going up to the university and going back to nursery school,” said Murkomen, a close ally of Ruto.
During his last campaign rally in Baringo county, Ruto appealed to Moi to support the UDA candidate.
The Deputy President said he had no problem with the Kanu chairman.
“Hatuna shida na ndugu yetu Gideon (we have no problem with our brother Gideon). When your father (Daniel arap Moi) wanted us to stand with him, we stood with him for many years. It’s your turn to stand with your brother Cheptumo this time,” said the DP who addressed a rally at Kabarnet ASK showground.
Unlike in the past when the senator was almost sure of clinching the seat, this time round he was forced to carry out door-to-door campaigns to fight for his political survival.
In his campaigns, he was riding on the slogan ‘Owegu teta konyo gaa’ (return the cow home) which seems not to have resonated well with the electorate.
He also told residents that they would benefit a lot should ODM leader Raila and Narc-Kenya leader Martha Karua ascend to the presidency.
“I know my decision (to support Azimio) is not popular among some people. But let me remind you that it’s not good to put all our eggs in one basket,” Moi told residents of his Sacho backyard.
Ruto toured Baringo county at least 10 times in the past six months where he launched several development projects in a bid to appeal to the electorate.
During the visits, he often accused the senator of abandoning the electorate despite being elected twice.
