THE BATTLE FOR MOSOP SEAT COULD EASILY EDGE SAMBU OUT OF PARLIAMENT

By Kipsiele Arap Sugurut
LUOCOME, KERICHO

The campaign for the Mosop Parliament seat in North Nandi district has begun in earnest and the incumbent Hon John Sambu, a former cabinet Minister in the previous Moi's KANU regime, who has represented the area for the last fifteen years (15) could find the going very tough.

Since capturing the seat back in 1992, Hon Sambu has had easy riding victories over his opponents. He had faced minimal opposition, but this time around the political pundits in Nandi have pointed out that the long serving legislator could be sent packing.

Mosop constituency is located in the north east of North Nandi district in area which is bordering Eldoret town, spreading down to the Uasin Gishu -Lugari district borders in the far North. It is densely populated with the highest numbers of registered voters numbering 54,930

The constituency is divided into three administrative Divisions with close to 24 administrative locations .The Divisions are namely Kipkarren, Kabiyet and Kosirai.

Kipkarren Division has the largest concentration of the registered voters as per the year 2002 topping the list with 32,642 registered voters. This is followed by Kabiyet Division with 12,646 registered voters and the area with smallest number of the registered voters is Kosirai Division with paltry 9,642.

The politics of Mosop constituency for many years was dominated by MPs from Kabiyet during the past 25 years, while Kosirai Division had 15 years of representation in Parliament. But the densely populated Kipkarren Division has had no representative in parliament ever since the constituency was created in 1965.

The constituency was created mainly to accommodate G.N Kalia who had been elected as the Senator for Nandi district during the 1963 general election, which ushered the political independence to Kenya under the tri-cameral two houses of the Senate (Upper House) and the National Assembly (Parliament) under the Lancaster House Constitution of the year 1962.

The KANU post-independence government led by the founding President the late Mzee Jomo Kenyatta scrapped the "Majimbo System of government", replacing it with the current unitary system. All the 41 Senators who had been elected to represent the then 41 districts were absorbed into one legislative body, namely Parliament after 41 new constituencies were created countrywide. And G.N Kalia switched from a Senator to an MP for Mosop.

The popular opinion making the round in both North and South Nandi districts is that the residents of Kipkarren should be given a chance this time around to have one of their own son or daughter elected to Parliament.

The constituency has attracted a large number of credible individual personalities who include lecturers and Senior lecturers at the nearby Moi University, Eldoret, retired teachers, senior executives with parastaatals and successful large scale farmers.

What is so strange is that the majority of the previous MPs who represented Mosopa were people who were residing outside the district and the constituency .The long serving MP, John Sambu is living in Eldoret .G.N Kalia switched from his rural home near Mosoriot Teachers College to Trans-Nzoia soon after clinching the Senate seat in 1963.The late Stanley Metto who represented the area for close to ten years was a permanent resident of Moiben in Uasin Gishu district.

The late Robert Tanui won the seat in 1969, but died in mid-term after successfully defending his seat in 1979. This paved the way for Benjamin Kositany to go to Parliament for only two years. He too came from Kabiyet like Sambu and Robert Tanui.

In total the Kabiye electorates have had a lion's share of 25 years representation since 1963. G.N Kalya and Stanley Metto who had a share of 15 years of representation were the only from Kosirai Division.

The latest political development in the two Nandi districts of South and North is, however, sending out a mixture of both bad and good signals. The electorate in Nandi are currently divided into two KANU political camps with one group affiliated to the Moi-Biwott axis, while the other group maintains its total loyalty to William Ruto and Uhuru Kenyatta camp. The whole of Nandi is KANU stronghold.

The conservative voters in Mosop under the prevailing political scenario are said to be supporting the Moi-Biwott camp while dismissing William Ruto as a political surrogate of Raila Odinga and not a serious contender for the presidency. The Moi-Biwott camp is said to be having a close political rapport with the Narc-K, which has already declared President Mwai Kibaki as its torch bearer in the next presidential nominations and the election proper.

The William Ruto-Uhuru kenyatta camp has teamed up with the ODM-K, a party in which more than six presidential candidates have since emerged. It is still not yet known as to who will win the party's presidential nomination. The delay on this matter is sending wrong signals to the voters due to the fact that the elections are only nine months away.

The Mosop seat has already attracted eight (8) new parliamentary hopefuls. They include Mr.Charles Bungei, David Kosgei,Lawrence Samoei,Vincent Towei,Jeremiah Ruto,Charles Barchigei,Kipsang Choge.The incumbent John Sambu tops up the number of aspirants to nine.

Rumours making the round are that another senior lecturer at the Moi University Dr.Mutai would soon join the race and so is a Mr.Joshua Chesop of the Kenya Airways.

LAZARUS TANUI
He is a lecturer at the Moi University, Eldoret, who is also said to be a neighbor of the incumbent MP John Sambu. He hails from Kabisaga in Kabiyet. He is also a large scale dairy , maize and wheat farmer in Uasin Gishu district. One of his daughters is said to be in the process of getting married to one of Hon John Sambu's sons. If he stands, this would be his first attempt. He hails from Kabiyet.

VINCENT TUWEI
He is a high profile man with connections in high places. He is currently the Mosop branch KANU chairman (in Biwott's camp). He is an accountant by training who had previously worked with the Post Bank. He is a businessman cum-farmer. A very eloquent person with vast experience in Kenya's politics, he was for many years a Kanu operative under the retired president Moi. This would be his first attempt to parliament. He hails from Ndalat in Kipkarren Division.

LAWRENCE SOMOEI
He is the head teacher at Kaptel Secondary School and a perennial election looser in Mosop. This would be his 3rd attempt, but his candidature has made no significant impact within the constituency. He is being dismissed as a person only interested in tapping up the election resources, but not a serious contender for the seat. He hails from Kabiyet.

DAVID KOSGEI
He is a lecturer at the Moi University, Eldoret in the department of Agriculture, and a prominent farmer. He is said to be a serious contender.

KIPSANG CHOGE
He is a former manager with the defunct Kenya Posts and Telecommunication. If he stands, this would be his 3rd attempt. But the political observers in Nandi maintain that he lost the best opportunity of clinching the seat in the year 2002. He is viewed by the electorate as having the same political and social characters of the incumbent, John Sambu. He is also being accused of being a man of hot tempers. He hails from Samrura Kabisaga in Kipkarren Division.

CHARLES BARCHIGEI
This would be his 3rd attempt at Mosop parliamentary politics. But his reputation is dented with allegations that he was seriously involved in the scandal surrounding the estate of the late Dr. Walter Kilele, the farmer managing Director of the ADC farms.

Insiders says he was involved in the protracted court tussle over the sub-division of Dr. Killele's estates between the family members, and is suspected to have benefited with the acquisition of a Range Rover car and an Isuzu lorry 7 tonnes plus colossal amount of money. Such allegation could be poisonous and a disadvantage to his chances of winning the election.

Dr. Kilele was a kipsigis tribesman who got married to two wives, one a Kipsigis and the second one a maasai girl. But the senior wife is said to have sought Mr.Barchigei's assistance when she disowned the younger wife and denied her a share of her late husband's estate.

JOHN SAMBU
The incumbent MP is accused of having failed to assist his fellow Nandis acquire the Lornroh farm in Eldoret despite having raised sufficient money. There are some unconfirmed allegation that Sambu converted a farm bought with the money contributed by the electorate to his personal use. .

It is being alleged that he is a stranger in the constituency, though that is where he was born and bred. He prefers staying in Uasin Gishu district near Eldoret where he has a farm, but only gives cosmetic appearances in Nandi during public rallies and functions.

Sambu has represented the area ever since 1992 and the pundits say his time is now up. He is said to be having bad rapport with the voters, and has failed to articulate his constituents wishes to have a new tea factory constructed in the area, poor access and feeder roads for farm commodities and milk collection from the dairy farmers.

Another name which is being frequently mentioned as that which would pose a serious challenge is that of Mr. Gideon Too, the current Deputy Chief Executive of the Kericho based Kenya Tea Growers Association ( KTGA) .But Mr. too has yet to declare his interest in the seat. He is, however, being credited for having struggle so hard to promote tea growing in the far north and assisting various youth and women Groups