Deputy President William Ruto’s supporters have threatened to ditch Jubilee Alliance Party (JAP) for allowing the nomination of a youthful candidate to run for the seat of Senator in the forthcoming Kericho county by-election.
A section of Jubilee supporters from the county have indicated that they will rally behind Paul Sang who is contesting the seat on a KANU ticket, and not Aaron Cheruiyot who was nominated on a Jubilee Alliance Party ticket a fortnight ago.
The supporters are opposing the nomination of Cheruiyot on grounds that the whole process was rigged and marred with controversy.
Led by former Kipkelion councilor Richard Bii, the supporters said that they will give JAP a break until 2017 when they will reconsider whether to support the party or not.
“We have decided to give Jubilee a short break until the 2017 general election. Until then, we are going to campaign and vote the KANU candidate to take the Kericho senatorial seat as Jubilee puts its house in order,” Bii said as quoted by Standard.
This comes after those who contested in the nomination also voiced their concern over the manner in which the nominations were conducted.
The contestants believe that transparency was not observed during the nomination, but have pledged support to Cheruiyot as he seeks to become the youngest senator in Kenya.
Cheruiyot floored political bigwigs Franklin Bett and Magerer Lang’at in the nomination, and stunned many because he was little known.
The former Moi University journalism student will battle it out for the seat with KANU’s Paul Sang, a former cabinet minister whom the defectors have pledged to support.
The Kericho senatorial seat was left vacant after President Uhuru Kenyatta appointed former Senator Charles Keter to cabinet. Keter has since become cabinet secretary for energy.
The by-election slated for March 7 is tipped to be a major litmus test for the newly formed Jubilee Alliance Party. The party has received massive opposition from those in the Jubilee alliance, with some arguing that they were not consulted before the agreement was reached.
Bomet county governor Isaac Ruto is one of such renegades who have since departed the party and formed his own ahead of the general election.
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