UDA nomination losers gang up against Sang in Nandi race
Nandi Governor Stephen Sang is facing a tough political battle after rivals who lost in United Democratic Alliance (UDA) primaries ganged up against him and backed his predecessor Cleophas Lagat, who is running as an independent.
Lagat, who disputed the outcome of the UDA nominations, has teamed up with Nandi County Assembly Speaker Joshua Kiptoo under a political outfit dubbed “Nandi Kwanza”.
Others who lost in nominations and are now backing Lagat are former Emgwen MP Elijah Lagat and former Kenya Pipeline manager Antipas Tirop.
Lagat, who lost to Sang in the 2017 General Election, says he enjoys support across the county with many MPs and MCAs who lost in the UDA nominations said to be supporting his bid.
Apart from Lagat and Sang, two other independent candidates Peter Maiyo and Nixon Tirop have been cleared to run for the seat.
MPs Alfred Keter (Nandi Hills), Vincent Tuwei (Mosop), Cornelius Serem (Aldai) and Nandi County Woman Rep Tecla Tum are also backing the ex-governor.
Stalled projects
Lagat is seeking to capitalise on stalled county flagship projects such as the multi-million governor’s office complex, Kipchoge Keino Stadium and Nandi Hills Stadium whose construction stopped after he left office.
“I want to come back and complete all the projects I initiated during my first term. Many projects I started have stalled due to lack of political goodwill,” Lagat told People Daily in an interview.
Contractors have accused Governor Sang’s administration of failing to settle pending bills amounting to more than Sh1.2 billion despite a directive by the National Treasury to have all bills cleared.
The youthful governor is campaigning on the land reform platform, which pundits say contributed significantly to his victory in the 2017 election.
“Those who have ganged up against me have nothing to show in terms of development. I’m the only one with the interests of the people at heart. All grabbed land should be returned back to the community,” says Sang.
The Governor, who has been at loggerheads with multi-national tea companies in the region over land ownership, yesterday accused his detractors of fighting his administration for selfish political gain at the expense of the people’s interests.
He has likened himself to pioneer politician Jean Marie Seronei who served as Tinderet MP and National Assembly Deputy Speaker. Seronei was a fiery Nandi land rights crusader during the early years of independence.
Tea estates
Sang says he deserves another five years to solve historical land injustices which the Nandi community suffered during the British colonial rule.
Allan Kosgey, who lost in the UDA primaries, has questioned Governor Sang’s sincerity in solving land issues in the region, saying he was just using the issue to win votes.
“In 2013 and 2018, Sang used historical land injustices and expired land leases for multinationals to get elected senator and governor but he should be reminded that things are different in 2022,” said Kosgey.
According to Kosgey, the governor had promised to engage multinationals to build a referral hospital which would have employed more than 5,000 people but this, he said, had remained a pipe dream.
Ruto factor
In the 2017 Jubilee Party nominations, Sang garnered 68,239 votes against former Cabinet Minister Henry Kosgey who got 36,425 votes while incumbent Lagat managed 17,559 votes. Sang won in the General Election with 244,583 votes.
Independent candidates in the August 9 election say they have no problem with Deputy President William Ruto’s presidential candidature but have asked him to let voters elect leaders of their choice to other positions.
Latest Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission data indicates that Nandi County has 346,007 registered voters and 796 polling stations with Aldai constituency having the highest number of voters – 65,866.
Others are Tinderet (43,971), Nandi Hills (51,866), Chesumei (62,299), Emgwen (58,552) and Mosop (63,926).
