The women eyeing governors' seats in the Rift Valley

The hitherto male-dominated Rift Valley political scene is set for a major shakeup, as more women roll up their sleeves to battle for gubernatorial seats in the region.

At least five women from the region have declared their interest in the coveted governor seat, in next year's election.

They have started building a campaign war chest to fight it out with their male opponents. Since the advent of devolution, only a handful women have won the MP and Senator seats.

In the Rift Valley, only one woman was elected governor in 2017- the late Joyce Laboso for Bomet County.

As the clock ticks towards the 2022 election, however, more women have kicked off discreet campaigns for the top county seats, promising an epic duel with male contenders.

They include Uasin Gishu Senator Margaret Kamar, Nakuru Senator Susan Kihika, Narok Woman Representative Soipan Tuya, Lina Jebii Kilimo the Cabinet Administrative Secretary for Agriculture and Mary Rotich the Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) Kericho branch secretary general.

In Nakuru for instance, the battle promises to be an epic duel between Senator Kihika who intends to run on a United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party ticket and Governor Lee Kinyanjui.

Ms Kihika has been selling the UDA party in the region and hopes to get the support of Deputy President William Ruto.

She is also a regular critic of Governor Kinyanjui’s administration and has been making a flurry of inroads in parts of the county, presumably to galvanise support.

The visits include charity work, meeting grassroots opinion shapers, youth leaders and elders, together with dishing out money during fundraisers in the villages.

Senator Kihika will fight it out with at least four other aspirants jostling to succeed the incumbent Mr Kinyanjui, who will be seeking a second term.

"I am definitely going for it. In the whole country, we had three female governors. But, after the demise of (Dr) Joyce Laboso, we now have two. In 2022, I want to join the league of women governors in Kenya. My people have been telling me to do so and I am listening to them. We need more women governors and I think I am as good as the next one and I am able to compete favourably with the men of Nakuru County,” said Senator Kihika in a recent interview.

Political temperatures are already rising in the cosmopolitan region considered part of Deputy President William Ruto's political bastion.

With the ban on political gatherings still in force, the aspirants have taken to social media to outfox one another and win support from the hundreds of thousands of voters in the county.

Iron lady

Both Senator Kihika (nicknamed the Iron Lady of Nakuru politics) and Governor Kinyanjui enjoy voter support in the county and were overwhelming elected in the last election. Since then, the two do not see eye to eye.

Revelations that the first Governor Kinuthia Mbugua, the current State House comptroller, could make a comeback, has also sent jitters among key contenders of the top seat.

Political analyst and lawyer Steve Kabita, says a number of factors including closeness to the people, individual development record and Uhuru Kenyatta succession politics, will determine the next governor of Nakuru County.

“Currently, the front runners are Susan Kihika and the incumbent Governor Kinyanjui; but it is too early. As the clock ticks to 2022, we shall know," says Mr Kabita.

In Narok County, Woman Representative Soipan Tuya was last month endorsed by her clan and family (the Tuya - a political family in the county), to vie for the top seat to succeed governor Samuel Ole Tunai.

Ms Tuya, who is serving her second term as woman rep, will be competing against five men.

Others who have expressed interest to succeed governor Tunai are Chief Administrative Secretary for Labour Patrick ole Ntutu, Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Devolution Charles Sunkuli, MPs Gabriel Tongoyo (Narok West), Lemein Korei (Narok South) and Nairobi Businessman Andrew Ole Sunkuli.

“I have made up my mind to vie for the top most seat. I will battle it out with the men to the end and I am sure I will comfortably win,” she tells nation.africa.

"When I look at the woman representative seat, it is just like milking a goat. The time is ripe for women to milk a cow,” she adds.

In Uasin Gishu, Senator Margaret Kamar will be in the race to succeed Governor Jackson Mandago.

Prof Kamar started off as a nominated member of the East African Legislative Assembly and chaired the Environment, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Tourism committee.

She was elected senator in 2017 and is the deputy speaker in the Senate.

Dr Loice Jemencho, a university don and Lina Kilimo are also preparing to succeed Elgeyo Marakwet Governor Alex Tolgos, who is serving his second.

Kuppet’s Mary Rotich has also declared her interest to succeed Prof Paul Chepkwony in Kericho.

And the aggressiveness with which these women are preparing for the elections, marshalling support, may be an indication that things are bound to change in the Rift Valley political scene, which has for decades, been male dominated.

According to Mr Kabita, women could greatly alter the region's political landscape.

"The governor seats are not reserved for a particular gender. With the number of women seeking to vie for the governor seat rising to five in the region, men should brace for an epic duel. If what happened in Bomet in 2017 is anything to go by, then we should expect more women governors in the Rift Valley region,” he says.

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