Bomet Governor Isaac Rutto is is reaching out to elected MPs and MCAs, seeking their support in his reelection bid. He broke ranks with Jubilee and formed Chama Cha Mashinani, on whose ticket he will run next year. Rutto will face National Assembly Deputy Speaker Joyce Laboso and Deputy Governor Stephen Mutai of the Jubilee Party and National Water Conservation and Pipeline Corporation chairman Julius Kones.
Rutto already has the support of 10 MCAs who are running for various positions on the CCM ticket. The MCAs have been campaigning for him. He has held frequent meetings with residents, led by the village and ward administrators, from across the five subcounties of Bomet Central, Bomet East, Chepalungu, Konoin and Sotik at his residence.
“It is official, I am a governor representing Chama Cha Mashinani. All the county government employees are working for a CCM government. When we talk about Mashinani we are not politicking, it is provided for by the constitution,” Ruto told county commissioner Bernard Leparmarai and other national government officials during the Mashujaa Day celebrations last Thursday.
Rutto met four MPs – Bernard Bett (Bomet East), Cecilia Ngetich (woman representative), Ronald Tonui (Bomet Central) and Sammy Koech (Konoin) in Nairobi last week, but the meeting's agenda remains unclear. Senator Wilfred Lesan, Paul Savimbi (Chepalungu) and Laboso have said they were not invited.
Lesan told the Star said there is more than meets the eye about the meeting. “The governor may be on his way to Jubilee or he might have approached the MPs as to support him in his bid to retain his seat in 2017 and in return fund their campaigns, so it is either way,” he said.
During the Mashuja Day celebrations in Bomet town, Rutto confirmed meeting the MPs. “I was with the MPs in Nairobi and I told them that I am in CCM to stay and will not join their Jubilee Party.”
Koech said they discussed development, and especially the implementation of the Itare water project, which has attracted criticism from residents and leaders. He said they did not discuss politics.