‘My journey to Senate is not over’- Jerotich Seii reacts to UDA nomination loss
Human rights activist Cherotich Seii says her aspirations to represent the people of Elgeyo Marakwet in the Senate are still alive, despite missing the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party ticket in nominations conducted on Saturday, November 26.
Seii finished fourth in the hotly contested poll with 8,540 votes.
William Kisang bagged the UDA ticket after garnering 28,136 votes, followed by Tim Kipchumba and Jonah Tanui who had a tie of 26,766 votes.
Reacting to the results on Sunday, Seii poked holes in the process, claiming there was a "low voter turnout that magically evolved into an extraordinarily high one".
She, however, indicated that the outcome of the nominations will not dim her hopes to represent Elgeyo Marakwet in the Senate.
"To the wonderful people of Elgeyo Marakwet County, kongoi mising for your votes. Against the backdrop of all that transpired including low voter turnout that magically evolved into an extraordinarily high one, I will simply say that my journey to the Senate is not over," Seii said in a tweet.
To the wonderful people of Elgeyo Marakwet County, kongoi mising for your votes. Against the backdrop of all that transpired including low voter turnout that magically evolved into an extraordinarily high one, I will simply say that my journey to the Senate is not over. pic.twitter.com/W7zaG7nEVb— #LindaKatiba (@JerotichSeii) November 27, 2022
Seii, the daughter of the former Military General Major (Rtd) John Seii and political activist Tabitha Seii, said in a past interview that her motivation for declaring a bid for the by-election slated for January 5, 2023, was to seek direct legislative interventions on issues affecting common mwananchi.
“If I have been able to do so much outside without a cent, imagine what will happen if we had access to the spaces where we can engage legislatively and see policy formulations come out as a result,” she said.
Earlier, politician-cum businessman Tim Kipchumba rejected the results, saying the process was marred by irregularities, despite good intentions from the party leader, President William Ruto.
"Thank you Elgeyomarakwet! Thanks to our team and fellow aspirants! We articulated a better vision. But the UDA primaries, even as well intended to be free and fair by William Ruto were marred by countless irregularities. We'll issue a statement soon," Kipchumba said in a tweet.
Kipchumba alleged that voters in his polling station were forced to return home without voting after they ran out of ballot papers.
"Voters especially those in Marakwet East (my own polling station) had to turn back yesterday after they ran out of ballots," he added.
Elgeyo Marakwet's senate seat fell vacant after Kipchumba Murkomen resigned following his appointment to President William Ruto's cabinet as a Cabinet Secretary (CS) for Roads, Transport and Public works.
At the time, Murkomen stated that it was not easy exiting the Senate where he served for the last 10 years.
"The 10 years that the people of Elgeyo Marakwet entrusted me to serve in this house has come to an end, any time this afternoon I will hand in my resignation. I believe some of the reasons why I was removed as Majority Leader, apart from other political reasons, is because I brought a 20-page statement challenging the NMS taking over Nairobi County responsibilities," Murkomen stated.
"A lot is going through my mind. Leaving Senate is not easy. It’s been my home for the last 10 years," he posted.
