MONDAY'S by-elections dealt a blow to the Jubilee and Cord rebels that have been campaigning against their mother coalitions.
The losers in the by-elections in Malindi and Kericho had their campaigns led by politicians who have been rebelling against Cord and Jubilee.
JAP's campaigns for Philip Charo in Malindi were led by a group of MPs from the region that has rebelled against Cord, led by Gideon Mung'aro (Kilifi North).
Mung'aro has been leading a group of Coast rebel MPs who have been backing him since he was ousted as national Minority whip in July 2014, a move he blamed on Joho.
Mung'aro has MPs Zainab Chidzuga (Kwale Woman rep), Gonzi Rai (Kinango), Peter Shehe Ganze), Harrison Kombe (Magarini), Khatib Mwashetani (Lunga Kunga), Masoud Mwahima (Likoni), nominated senators Mvita Kisasa and Emma Mbura.
The MPs have been fighting Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho, who said that the win in the by-election was a precursor of the 2017 elections.
Joho has on his side MPs Abdulswamad Nassir (Mvita), Rashid Bedzimba (Kisauni), Mishi Mboko (Mombasa Woman rep), Aisha Jumwa (Kilifi Woman rep), William Kamoti (Rabai), Thomas Mwadeghu (Wundanyi) and Badi Twalib (Jomvu).
Also in Joho's camp are Governors Salim Mvurya, (Kwale), Amason Kingi (Kilifi) and John Mruttu (Taita Taveta).
The rebel MPs have been jumping ship from the opposition since 2014 and have been saying that they would lead the Coast region into Jubilee.
They have also held various meetings with both President Uhuru Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto, with Mung'aro becoming the Jubilee point man.
Uhuru and Ruto had banked on Mung'aro to deliver the seat, having been an MP in Malindi for 10 years and before that the mayor of the town.
Mung'aro has been insisting that joining Jubilee was the only way that the Coast region would fully benefit from the government.
“It’s all about our people at the Coast. They must be and feel represented in the government and to achieve this, we only have to join the Jubilee Party as it will be the next ruling party,” Mung’aro said in December.
Following the loss, Mung’aro said the outcome will not dampen their aim of working with the Jubilee government to ensure all projects are implemented.
In Kericho, Ruto’s allies who have joined the rebellion spearheaded by Bomet Governor Issac Rutto were campaigning against the JAP candidate.
JAP's Aaron Cheruiyot went on to win the poll by 65 per cent, boosting Ruto's image and dominance in the Rift Valley.
Rutto was also joined by Kanu chairman and Baringo Senator Gideon Moi in the campaign against the Jubilee candidate.
The Kericho Senate seat fell vacant after the appointment of Energy Cabinet Secretary Charles Keter to government by President Uhuru Kenyatta.
The vacancy opened a major battle between the DP and Moi, Rutto and URP rebels who included MPs Alfred Keter (Nandi Hills) and Oscar Sudi (Kapseret).
Others are former Kipkelion MP Magerer Lang’at, Emurua-Dikirr MP Johana Ng'eno and West Pokot Senator John Lonyangapuo.
The DP was accused of sidelining the South Rift region and was forced to apologise to the residents while on the campaign trail for the JAP candidate.
The Kericho by-election was touted as a litmus test for Ruto, who in 2013 delivered the Rift Valley bloc to Jubilee almost to a man after the region rebelled against ODM leader Raila Odinga, whom they had overwhelmingly voted for in 2007.
While it was a walkover for Keter in 2013, with 201,363 votes (77 per cent), Jubilee had to go flat out to ward off Kanu's strong onslaught in 2016.
It is however now time for the rebels to go back to the drawing board after the overwhelming win by JAP, a party which they have been urging their supporters not to join.
The campaigns turned personal between Ruto and Gideon Moi, with the two exchanging bitter words.
Uhuru skipped the Kericho campaigns in what was seen as a deliberate decision to keep away from the turf wars between his deputy and Moi, whose party Kanu is a member of the Jubilee coalition.
The URP-Kanu crossfire was so intense that as he criss-crossed Kericho, Ruto maintained a vote for Kanu’s Paul Sang would be a vote for opposition chief Raila Odinga.
But Moi and Rutto maintained that Kanu was part of the Jubilee government and was not in the opposition as the DP was claiming.