Baringo loss leaves Gideon Moi fighting for his survival

Kanu chairman Gideon Moi’s grip on his political backyard has continued to loosen and many observers say Thursday’s move by Baringo MCAs to shoot down the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) Bill could seal his fate.

Mr Moi has never had political say in the larger Rift Valley region but Baringo voters elected him both in 2013 and 2017 as their senator.

The locals have, on several occasions, accused the younger Moi of not playing an active role in county matters.

Meanwhile, Deputy President William Ruto has made a foray into the senator's home county, muddying the waters and leaving him now fighting for survival.

The duo has in the recent past been engaging in supremacy battles as they flex their muscles for their 2022 presidential bids.

Senator Moi's aides, however, say he’s just down, not out.

"Absentee senator"

Mr Moi's woes started after his re-election in 2013 as the senator, with local leaders accusing him of not working with them.

In March 2018, there was a showdown at the Baringo County assembly after a section of ward representatives allied to the Jubilee party and Kanu clashed over allegations of an “absentee senator”.

The ward reps, led by the majority chief whip Reuben Chepsongol, claimed the senator did not deserve an office at the assembly as he was always absent.

An office had been designated to Mr Moi at the county assembly since 2013.

"Some of our committee members lack offices yet the senator's office, which has been at the assembly since 2013, is unused," said Mr Chepsongol.

According to Tenges Ward Representative Silas Tochim, Mr Moi had an office at the assembly which has been there since the inception of devolution but has been dormant.

"Mr Moi has a tendency of disappearing after being elected till the next electioneering period. What is the use of an office at the assembly if it is not serving the electorate?” Posed Mr Tochim.

The MCAs allied to the Jubilee Party gave the senator a three-day ultimatum to vacate the office.

Many challenges

According to nominated MCA Francis Kibai, the region has had many challenges, such as insecurity, biting drought and a water crisis, but the senator has turned a blind eye to his people's problems.

He said that there was money allocated to senators by the Parliamentary Service Commission to rent offices and he fails where the money has been going since 2013.

"There are a lot of challenges in this region but Mr Moi has just decided to ignore us after we voted him in. He has even lost touch with the local leaders and we do even have his contacts. The office dubbed 'Senator liaison office' has no liaison with the assembly," said Mr Kibai.

"We even overheard that the senator was eyeing the presidency in 2022. If he has been defeated in addressing the issues of his county, how will he lead an entire republic?"

There was a scuffle at the precincts of the county assembly after the two factions clashed with Kanu MCA's claiming that the decision by the Jubilee counterparts to close down the office was politically instigated.

“Sideshow”

Kanu nominated MCA Betty Birchogo, however, said that the move by the Jubilee MCAs was well choreographed to intimidate Senator Moi.

"We know that the sideshow by the Jubilee ward representatives is meant to intimidate the senator. If they think that Mr Moi is a threat to the Deputy President William Ruto then they should go and campaign for him. We know that they want to replace it to be an office of the DP but we will not allow" said Ms Birchoko.

According to Deputy Speaker Ameja Selemoi, who is also Churo/Amaya ward representative, MCAs affiliated to the Jubilee party wanted to divert attention to disrupt a motion that was going on at the assembly.

"There is an important motion of the supplementary budget going on at the assembly and I think the Jubilee MCAs were pulling a sideshow to divert attention," said Mr Selemoi.

He claimed that the supplementary budget estimates had a lot of misappropriation and their counterparts wanted to divert attention so that the assembly passes the budget without much scrutiny.

"The people of Baringo elected Mr Moi and he is a leader. The assembly is not a Jubilee headquarters and we will not allow busybodies to intimidate us," said Mr Selemoi.

Ruto's moves

In March 2020, the supremacy battle between the Deputy President and Mr Moi in the Rift Valley region played out at the Baringo County assembly after the Kanu-allied deputy speaker was ousted in a heated debate.

Mr Selemoi, who is also Churo /Amaya ward representative, was ousted on accusations of abuse of office and gross violation of the oath of office.

The ouster motion was debated on Tuesday afternoon in a motion which was sponsored by the assembly's majority leader Lawi Kipchumba and supported by more than 36 MCAs out 45.

A few months to the 2017 General Election, DP Ruto is alleged to have pushed Labour Cabinet secretary Simon Chelugui, who was then the Betting Control and Licensing Board director, to vie for the Senatorial seat against Mr Moi when he hosted a delegation from Baringo at his Sugoi home.

A source at the meeting told the Nation that Dr Ruto assured Mr Chelugui of Jubilee Party’s support in the campaigns to wrest the seat from Kanu.

Mr Chelugui was former governor Benjamin Cheboi's closest competitor in the gubernatorial race.

In the Baringo South by-election in August 2018, the DP solidified his grip of Rift Valley after a candidate he plucked from Kanu won the closely contested Baringo South parliamentary seat on a jubilee ticket.

The seat fell vacant following the death of the area MP Grace Kipchoim in April after a long battle with colon cancer.

Charles Kamuren had vied for the Baringo South parliamentary seat twice in 2013 and 2017 on a Kanu ticket but lost to the late Kipchoim.

Mr Kamuren, who clinched the seat, crossed over from Kanu to Jubilee in the run up to the by-election following a machination by the DP who toured the area.

In the by-election, Mr Kamuren, a former Baringo Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) Executive Secretary, was declared winner after he garnered 12,277 votes while his closest rival, Cynthia Kipchilat of Maendeleo Chap Chap (MCC), was second with 8,968 votes.

Another blow

The shift by former Bomet Governor Isaac Ruto to his fierce critic DP's camp last month has marked the heightened re-alignment linked to the fight for political survival as the 2022 General Election nears.

The move by Mr Ruto was a double blow to Senator Moi after Kanu suffered a major blow in the vote-rich Rift Valley, its political bedrock, after cracks emerged among its allies over the newly founded post-election pact with the ruling Jubilee Parting and government reshuffle late last year.

Political pundits are of the opinion that that it won’t be easy for Senator Moi to outsmart Dr Ruto unless he changes his tactics, arguing that over years the younger Moi has been depending on the political might of his late father.