Kiptis loses Baringo governor seat to predecessor Cheboi
Former Baringo governor Benjamin Cheboi casts his vote at Shimoni Primary School polling station in Eldama Ravine on August 9, 2022. He has reclaimed the seat after defeating incumbent governor Stanley Kiptis.
Baringo Governor Stanley Kiptis has lost the seat to his predecessor Benjamin Cheboi, who has won in the August 9 General Elections by a big margin to get 137,486 votes.
Eldama Ravine MP Moses Lessonet, who was also in the race on an independent ticket, got 60,879 votes while Governor Kiptis came third with 17,646 votes.
Mr Cheboi was the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) gubernatorial flagbearer while Kiptis earlier ditched the party, opting to defend his seat on an independent ticket after being defeated in the UDA primaries.
Governor Kiptis said he arrived at the decision after being compelled by his supporters, noting that the nominations held on April 14, 2022 were marred by irregularities and were not free and fair.
Governor Kiptis, a former Kenya National Union of Teachers Eldama Ravine branch secretary-general, succeeded Mr Cheboi in 2017 after he trounced him in the Jubilee Party primaries.
In what seemed to be a protest vote at the time, he won by a landslide, garnering more than 65,589 votes against Mr Cheboi who got 21,388 votes.
The replica of what happened in the past elections seemed to have come back in 2022 to haunt Mr Kiptis who was given a resounding defeat by the electorate.
Reclaim lost glory
While being awarded a winner’s certificate at the Kenya School of Government county tallying centre in Kabarnet on Friday, Mr Cheboi indicated that he will strive to reclaim the lost glory of the county by completing a myriad of stalled projects.
“I promise to work with all the elected leaders, to work towards reclaiming the glory of this county and try to improve the living standards of our people by improving our service delivery,” said Mr Cheboi.
The former Higher Education Loans Board CEO regretted that several projects in the county have stalled since he left office in 2017, yet money had been allocated to them.
“The stalled projects must be completed because county resources have been put on them so that we can get return on investment. We cannot put a project, spend a lot of money and put them aside with the pretext that it was done by a previous government,” he added.
Governor Kiptis has since conceded defeat and promised to support his successor in his five-year tenure.
He also thanked the electorate for the chance they gave him to serve as their governor since 2017.
“You the supreme people have spoken, so loud in fact and, as a team, we oblige,” said Mrr Kiptis.
“I have no doubt he (Cheboi) prevailed in this gubernatorial contest. “I urge all who supported us to join me in not just congratulating the winner, but offering our goodwill and earnest effort to find ways to better the lives of our great people,” he added.
