Politics in Tans Nzoia County is encountering a sudden wave after the Special Secretary for Infrastructure, Energy and ICT at the Office of Deputy President William Ruto, Maurice Kakai Bisau, ditched the UDA party for the Democratic Action Party of Kenya (DAP-K).
Defense Cabinet Secretary Eugene Wamalwa announced the move on Wednesday together with DAP-K party leader Wafula Wamunyinyi, who received Bisau at the Chui House in Nairobi.
After being frustrated by DP William Ruto’s UDA Party, Bisau, who ran unsuccessfully for Trans Nzoa gubernatorial position in 2013 and 2017, has decided to contest for the Kiminini parliamentary seat under DAP-K, which is affiliated with ODM patron Raila Odinga’s Azimio la Umoja.
The sour relationship began in the UDA Party when the ANC and Ford Kenya got married last month to form the Kenya Kwanza Alliance.
A reliable source says Ford Kenya, led by Moses Masika Wetangula, agreed with UDA not to field any gubernatorial aspirant in Trans Nzoia County, but instead Ford Kenya would be allowed to front its candidate, Kiminini MP Dr. Chris Wamalwa, an arrangement that didn’t go well with Kakai Bisau.
As a result, Bisau pledged his full support for former Rift Valley Regional Commissioner George Natembeya, indicating that the fight for the Trans Nzoia gubernatorial seat will be a two-horse race.
Mike Musungu is a reporter at Radio Simba in Bungoma and a correspondent of Trans Nzoia County for the Western Kenya Times.