National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang'ula's decision to endorse former Cabinet Secretary Susan Nakhumicha as the Ford Kenya candidate for the 2027 Trans Nzoia gubernatorial race has unsettled UDA and other affiliate parties within the Kenya Kwanza coalition in the cosmopolitan county.
The ripple effects of the decision are also being felt in neighbouring Bungoma County.
A section of politicians from the two counties have questioned the Speaker's leadership style, with some predicting that Ford Kenya's era of dominance in the region is coming to an end.
Mr Wetang'ula endorsed Ms Nakhumicha on June 21, during a meeting attended by community elders, saying she was the strongest candidate to unseat Governor George Natembeya.
Kenya’s Representative to the United Nations Habitat Susan Nakhumicha. She will run against Trans Nzoia governor George Natembeya in 2027.
Photo credit: File I Nation Media Group
"She has demonstrated the highest ability and strength to unseat Governor Natembeya and, as Ford Kenya, Kenya Kwanza and the broad-based government, she is our preferred candidate for the seat," Mr Wetang'ula said during the endorsement ceremony.
The declaration has sparked sharp divisions within the Kenya Kwanza in Trans Nzoia, with Kiminini MP Kakai Bisau, who is also seeking the governor's seat, openly rejecting Ms Nakhumicha's endorsement.
Speaking to the Daily Nation , Mr Bisau said Ms Nakhumicha lacked the popularity needed to defeat Governor Natembeya and warned Ford Kenya against imposing its preferred candidate on other constituent parties within Kenya Kwanza.
"Wetang'ula's confusion will cost Kenya Kwanza the governorship. He should first fix his Bungoma backyard before coming here to dictate to us who should be governor," said Mr Bisau, who also contested the seat in 2017.
"In 2022, Nakhumicha garnered only 32,000 votes when she vied for the Woman Representative seat. Those are the same number of votes I received in Kiminini Constituency alone. So where is her popularity?" he posed.
"Ditch UDA for Ford Kenya"
Mr Bisau won the Kiminini parliamentary seat on a DAP-Kenya ticket in 2022 but has since fallen out with the Eugene Wamalwa-led party.
Speaking during a thanksgiving ceremony for ailing Kwanza MP Ferdinand Wanyonyi in Kitale, Mr Wetangula challenged Mr Bisau to defect from UDA and join Ford Kenya if he wished to contest for governor under the party's banner.
"If you come to Ford Kenya, we will subject you to nominations, and John Makali (Kanduyi MP) is the party's Chief Legal Officer. But if you are not in Ford Kenya, Nakhumicha is our candidate," Mr Wetang'ula said.
Mr Bisau dismissed the Speaker's remarks, insisting that Mr Wetang'ula does not speak on behalf of UDA, maintaining that he will remain in the race.
"I garnered 98,000 votes in 2017, while Chris Wamalwa, the Ford Kenya gubernatorial candidate in 2022, managed only 72,000 votes, which is fewer than what I received. I have consulted Endebess MP Robert Pukose regarding Mr Wetang'ula's claims, and he has told me he is unaware of any meeting where it was agreed that only a Ford Kenya candidate would be supported for governor," said the MP.
Democratic Action Party- Kenya (DAP-K) Trans Nzoia gubernatorial candidate George Natembeya (left) and DAP-K Kiminini parliamentary seat candidate Kakai Bisau (in blue checked shirt) during a press briefing after receiving defectors at the Natembeya Campaign centre on June 21, 2022.
Photo credit: Gerald Bwisa | Nation Media Group
The first-term legislator also questioned why Mr Wetang'ula was vigorously campaigning for Ms Nakhumicha while Ford Kenya appears to lack a formidable gubernatorial candidate in neighbouring Bungoma County.
"Instead of practising politics of confusion and dictatorship, the Speaker should be uniting leaders. Even on the ground, people are saying that if Ms Nakhumicha becomes the candidate, they will simply vote back Natembeya," he said.
Although Ford Kenya won the Trans Nzoia governorship in both 2013 and 2017, the party lost the seat to DAP-Kenya's George Natembeya in the 2022 General Election. UDA, however, won the Senate and Woman Representative seats.
Ford Kenya secured only one parliamentary seat in Trans Nzoia in 2022 through Ferdinand Wanyonyi in Kwanza Constituency. ODM won Saboti, UDA captured Endebess, while DAP-Kenya won Kiminini and Cherangany constituencies.
"I know President William Ruto is a democrat and will not succumb to the politics of blackmail being peddled by Ford Kenya through Wetangúla," he said.
Former Kiminini MP Chris Wamalwa also criticised Mr Wetang'ula's endorsement of Ms Nakhumicha, saying he foresaw such developments long before he left Ford Kenya in January.
"He wants to choose the governor for the people of Trans Nzoia. We tell him to take his political projects to Bungoma. It is the people of Trans Nzoia who will choose their governor in 2027," said Mr Wamalwa.
However, Webuye East MP Martin Pepela urged Mr Bisau and Mr Wamalwa to support Ms Nakhumicha's candidature.
"She has the potential to defeat Natembeya, and we are asking our brothers to rally behind her," Mr Pepela said.
Ford Kenya Secretary-General John Chikati and Bungoma Senator Wafula Wakoli have also backed Ms Nakhumicha. "We are optimistic that Ms Nakhumicha has the capability to transform Trans Nzoia economically, just as women governors such as Gladys Wanga have done in Homa Bay," they said.
Meanwhile, Ford Kenya is yet to field a clear gubernatorial candidate in neighbouring Bungoma County, where UDA's Didmus Barasa and Westlands MP Tim Wanyonyi are leading early campaigns.
Mr Wanyonyi has publicly declared that he is not interested in seeking the seat on a Ford Kenya ticket.
Sirisia MP John Waluke has endorsed Mr Wanyonyi, while Kabuchai MP Majimbo Kalasinga has distanced himself from Mr Wetang'ula despite both leaders hailing from the same constituency.
Political observers also view the emergence of ODM Secretary-General Edwin Sifuna, who hails from Bungoma County, as a potential challenge to Mr Wetang'ula's long-standing influence among the Bukusu community.
