Outrage as Narok MCA nomination list released
Former Majority leader and Narok Town Ward MCA Mr Benard Torome(center) with some Ward Reps addressing Journalists outside the Narok County Assembly at a past event. The Narok County Assembly is set to have 49 MCAs up from the previous 47 after 19 were nominated to the assembly
Some of the people nominated for MCA slots by President William Ruto's United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party have cried foul, saying they were “shortchanged” and their names were missing from the final list.
In a September Special Kenya Gazette notice released by the electoral agency, Narok had 19 slots, up from the traditional 17 nominated since 2013.
The gender list comprised 15 in the gender top-up list, with UDA getting seven, Jubilee four, ODM two and ANC and CCM one each.
In the marginalised category, UDA has two slots, Jubilee one and ODM one.
Some UDA and Jubilee nominee hopefuls expressed displeasure, claming betrayal by the parties they had invested in during campaigns.
Among them was Ms Faiza Muhammed, who had to drop her bid for the Town Ward MCA seat under UDA in favour of her opponent, the then incumbent ward rep Benard Torome.
"I am utterly disappointed that my name is missing from the marginalised group final list. I was in the previous two shortlisted nominees [and was promised that I would be picked]," Ms Muhammed lamented.
She pleaded with the top UDA organ to look into the matter.
"I was the first woman to erect a UDA billboard in Narok town and I have been campaigning tirelessly to ensure that the town became UDA's stronghold,” she said.
“I was doing well in campaigns until three days to the party nominations when I was approached to drop my bid in exchange for a nomination."
Another casualty in the nominations is Ms Ann Muthoni, a business woman who also claims to have been shortchanged.
"I had also been shortlisted and I was sure of getting it. I used my money to hire taxis to campaign for UDA across the county, but I now have nothing to show for it," Ms Muthoni lamented.
The MCA nominations list was full of familiar names, including former elected and nominated MCAs.
UDA, for instance, nominated former Ololunga MCA Jefferson Lang'at under the marginalised group, because he hails from the minority Kipsigis community in Narok.
Mr Lang'at dropped his bid for MCA in favour of Sonkoi Lemein, who won under UDA.
Jubilee, on the other hand, picked pioneer Siana ward MCA Henry Siololo in the youth category.
ODM picked former party national deputy vice-chair Christine Lemein for the second time in the gender top-up.
The party also nominated the youthful Cynthia Sintei Nchoe, who until her nomination was a member of the party's National Elections Board.
Jubilee’s nomination of Alice Kering, formerly nominated by ODM in 2017 in neighbouring Nakuru County, has elicited mixed reactions from those who wanted the post.
One them was Cheptongilo Kosigo, who claimed that Ms Kering ‘snatched' her position.
"I was born and raised in Narok County and I deserve my position back. No one can sit on my seat. I'll fight this to the end," Ms Kosigo vowed.
Another nominated MCA who had moved to Narok from elsewhere is Leah Nankanae, who was previously nominated by Jubilee to the Nairobi County Assembly.
Other MCAs who managed to get back to the assembly through nominations include Mercy Keiwa, who will serve her third term as a nominated MCA.
Ms Keiwa was first nominated in 2013 by the Kenya National Congress and subsequently nominated by CCM in 2017 and again this year.
