A year to the 2027 General Election, Kericho Governor Erick Mutai has publicly thrown his deputy, Fred Kirui, under the bus, ending a long-running, complicated political and administrative relationship.
He told Kirui that he has set him free to look for another political suitor ahead of the next polls — either as a gubernatorial candidate or a running mate.
"I want to clear the air and tell my deputy Fred Kirui, in his presence here, that since it is public knowledge that he was behind the two failed attempts to have me impeached, our political relationship has come to an end," Dr Mutai said in Chilchila Ward, Kipkelion West Constituency.
He added: "Moving forward, I will be working with Jackson Rop (CEC for Finance and Economic Planning) and have the Deputy Governor's position retained at Kipkelion West Constituency, where Engineer Kirui comes from."
The governor and his deputy have had a rocky relationship over the last four years, centred on an alleged power-sharing formula that was not honoured, failure to agree on the appointment of county executive committee (CEC) members and chief officers, as well as disagreements over identifying, prioritising and funding development projects.
"You (Kirui) are free to look for other leaders to work with in next year's election... That way, I bring to an end the toxic relationship that has persisted since we were elected four years ago," the county boss said.
Kirui threw the first salvo at Dr Mutai, telling him that he had mistreated and disrespected him since they were elected in August 2022, making it impossible for them to work together.
"The people of Kipkelion West will chart their own political path in the 2027 General Election as a result of the mistreatment and disrespect you (governor) have shown me, despite the voters in this region overwhelmingly voting for us to steer county affairs," Kirui stated earlier.
At a past gathering, the deputy governor confirmed that it had increasingly become impossible for the two to work together in serving the people of Kericho, before he was forced to cut short his speech by a hostile crowd.
Forced political marriage
Kericho Governor Erick Mutai and Deputy Governor Fred Kirui at Litein Boys' High School in Bureti Constituency during Madaraka Day celebrations on June 1, 2023, shortly before their public disagreement.
Photo credit: Vitalis Kimutai | Nation Media Group
Mutai and Kirui were forced into a political marriage three days before the April 14, 2022 United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party nominations, as a means to beat former Energy Cabinet Secretary Charles Keter, who was gunning for the same position.
Both Mutai, a former university lecturer, and Kirui, a businessman, were seeking the party's ticket for the gubernatorial seat to succeed Professor Paul Chepkwony, who was serving his second and last term in office.
A compromise was arrived at following an intervention by a group of elders led by former Cabinet Secretary Franklin Bett and businessman Job Chirchir, in which Engineer Kirui agreed to be Dr Mutai's running mate.
As a result, the two handed an overwhelming defeat to Mr Keter, who got 60,342 votes, against Dr Mutai, who garnered 126,038 votes. The then Deputy Governor Lily Ng'ok got 9,377 votes, while Moi University lecturer Professor James Sang had 2,987 votes.
The alleged 60-40 percent pre-election agreement — which Mutai disputes, while Kirui insists it exists but has failed to produce it — reportedly stipulated that 40 percent of appointments to the county cabinet and senior offices would be made by the deputy governor, with the governor holding the remaining 60 percent.
But a fallout emerged immediately after they were sworn into office over the naming of CECs and Chief Officers, a process Kirui claimed he had not been consulted on — kicking off a storm that has not settled to date.
Fierce critic of his boss
Kirui has been one of the fiercest critics of his boss, whom he accused of starving the deputy governor's office of funding, leaving him without any administrative responsibility and transferring key staff out of the office.
Mutai survived impeachment attempts at the Senate on October 2, 2024 and again on August 26, 2025 — both of which were seen to have been engineered by senior politicians in the area, with whom the governor is seen to have since made political peace.
Kirui has yet to make clear whether he will be seeking the gubernatorial ticket in the UDA party primaries against his boss ahead of the next General Election.
