Kisumu
  17/12/07
 
YOUTHFUL ROTICH ON THE LEAD IN KONOIN PARLIAMENTARY RACE.

By Kipsiele Arap Sugurut

A youthful former bank manager is causing sleepless night to other parliamentary aspirants in Konoin Constituency, in Bureti district.

Nicholas Cheruiyot Rotich who was formerly a senior manager with the National Bank of Kenya (NBK) joined the race for Konoin seat rather late. And although he lost ODM ticket to Dr. Julius Kones during the party preliminaries, the youthful aspirant has already turned the heat on other contestants.

They include the immediate former MP Samy Cheruiyot Koech, another ex –MP Raphael Kitur (Chepesa) Dr. Kones who won the ODM ticket and others in the final race for the election proper.

Rotich popularity has come about as a result of his family background. He is the son of the famous educationist, politician and farmer Mr. Makerere of Chebangang’ village in Konoin.

The soft spoken Rotich who studied for masters degree in business in an Indian University has served the bank for well over 15 years in top management is contesting the election on the ticket of the Chama Cha Uzalendo ticket.

But he has caused stirs due to his popularity with the youth and women. The electorate in Konoin is seeing Rotich as someone who is seriously committed to bring about the change in Konoin. This is a tea-growing zone, where the previous MP Sammy Koech is blamed for having failed to utilize the CDF money on road network.

Rotich who is a member of the ODM only jumped to the other party after loosing the party’s ticket to Mr. Kones to a highly flawed election. In the ODM preliminaries aspirant were forced to count their on ballot papers using computers. It was manipulated because the election logistics did not arrive at all.

Rotich is seen as someone who stands for change.

Meanwhile the electorate in Kipsigis region have vowed to defy the pleas being made by the retired President Daniel Arap Moi that the community should vote as a bloc and support Kibaki re-election for another five-year term.

Moi did not help the Kipsigis during his 24 years of misrule in which the nation’s, economy was destroyed. He will also go down in history as the architect of the tribal clashes which began 1991 and is still bedeviling government after the other.

The community had no confidence in Moi’s leave alone respect as a result of the way he had handled the transaction of land in and the content in the issue of sales of the large-scale tea plantations and factories in Kericho, Bureti and Bomet.

Moi has no value added to the Kibaki election campaign because he had enriched himself, his family and a few cronies and sycophants at the expense of the majority of the Kalenjin who are still languishing in abject poverty.

He had used a few Kipsigis individuals but dumped them after succeeding in his massive political manipulation therefore he should leave the Kipsigis in peace and let them chart the course their own destiny.

Moi’s hostility and hate for Raila Odinga has no meaning to the community. He should be advised to take a back seat and enjoy his retirement benefit peacefully. The entire Kalenjin people want a change but his Kibaki project will come down fumbling like his Uhuru Project of 2002!!

Ends.