Three politicians in the South Rift region have finally been elected to the National Assembly after unsuccessfully making a stab at the seats in the last 15 years.
Mr Joseph Kimutai Cherorot (Kipkelion East), Mr Richard Yegon (Bomet East) and Mr Francis Sigei (Sotik) were all elected in Kericho and Bomet counties as MPs under the United Democratic Alliance (UDA).
The three sought in vain to secure tickets in party primaries in the previous three elections.
This year, Mr Cherorot bagged 36,066 votes to beat outgoing MP Joseph Limo, who ran as an independent and garnered 11,268. Mr Limo was seeking a third consecutive term.
“I am so delighted that in the end, the voters have rallied behind me for the parliamentary seat in the 2022 General Election. It is the people’s will and God’s grace,” said Mr Cherorot.
He said he will work with donor agencies, the national government and county officials to initiate development projects for the benefit of the people in the agriculturally rich region.
“I will hit the ground running to deliver on my mandate. I will also seek to unite the people and put politics on the back burner so that we can move forward together and roll out development projects in the constituency,” Mr Cherorot said.
Mr Yegon, who until recently was a senior manager at Ethiopian Airlines, has had it rough in the last 15 years contesting unsuccessfully against outgoing MP Beatrice Kones and former MP Benard Bett in party primaries.
He garnered 35, 431 votes in a constituency that has 63,640 registered voters.
Mr Yegon who is now the MP-elect beat Kanu Secretary General Nick Salat who garnered 13,425 and Chama Cha Mashinani (CCM) party candidate Dr John Kipkoech Kalya who garnered 987 votes in the three-horse race.
Joseph Kimutai Cherorot who won the Kipkelion East parliamentary seat on a UDA ticket
“I am grateful to God and the people of Bomet East constituency for the win. I will endeavour to change the development model in the constituency to a people-centred one,” Mr Yegon told the Nation on Friday, a day after he was declared the winner.
He said: “It has been quite a journey, with disappointments, high expectations ending up in tears, but my turn to lead has come and I have to prove I earned the trust bestowed on me. It is time the rubber meets the road.”
Mr Yegon came to the limelight for uprooting tea bushes on his farm to protest low prices offered by the Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) and for publicly stating that he could collapse and die if he did not win the election this time around.
He was also known for kneeling before hundreds of residents while addressing them as he beseeched them to rally behind him in UDA primaries held on April 14, when he beat 10 other aspirants.
Mr Sigei, a former Nairobi provincial commissioner, was also elected after three previous unsuccessful attempts. He beat area MP Dominic Koskei in the UDA primaries and again in the August 9 General Election, when the outgoing MP ran as an independent.
Mr Sigei garnered 41,392 votes against Mr Koskei’s 26,170. Mrs Emily Sawe of Chama Cha Mashinani (CCM) had 900 votes, Dr Kipchumba Toweett (independent) 379, and Mr Samwel Rotich (DEP) 152.
“I have repeatedly run in the party primaries and never gave up after losing because I have a development plan I want to see through, a burning desire to tweak the development approach in Sotik constituency for the benefit of the people,” Mr Sigei said.
He told the Nation that some of his supporters had attempted to convince him to run for the Senate seat, but he stuck to his guns, saying his agenda was for Sotik constituency, whose problems he said he understood better and had solutions for. BY DAILY NATION