Kanu will field a candidate in the Lelmokwo-Ngechek June 3 by-election following pressure from Nandi residents, party secretary general Nick Salat has said.
He said the party had opted to boycott the by-election because the electoral commission did not conduct a free and fair poll in Kericho in March. But “residents said ‘Kanu is our party since Independence unlike other parties whose motives and agenda are still unclear to us and we are backing the party’,” Salat said.
Speaking to the Star in Narok town, Salat urged the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission to let the residents exercise their democratic rights. “Our fear is that they might do what happened in Kericho county. There is already a clear script of favouring one candidate. Nevertheless, we will give our best in the campaigns,” he said.
The seat fell vacant after the death of Hesbon Metto, who was also the Nandi county assembly deputy speaker. Ezekiel Leley, popularly known as Bamwai, of Kanu will run against Jubilee’s Julius Arusei.
