UDA dominates Nandi delegation to Parliament

The National Assembly will have a new look as its Nandi county delegation is dominated by DP William Ruto's UDA.

• Seven constituency seats were won by UDA. Six were new entrants, the seventh was incumbent MP Julius Melly of Tinderet who retained his seat.

Josses Lelmengit, 28, won the Emgwen MP seat, garnering 34,803 votes against Dr Tecla Tum's 13,194. Dr Tum was running as an independent to retain her seat.

Lelmengit, a youthful civil engineer and businessman, promised to lift the many burdens of young people, including unemployment and poverty.

"My thinking resonates with the youthful population and I will work towards creating meaningful projects to create employment for the youth and uplift their standards,” Lelmengit said.

UDA's Bernard Kitur, MP-elect for Nandi Hills constituency, won the seat with 23,503 votes. His competitor, independent candidate Alfred Keter followed with 18,037 votes.

Four trips by the UDA leadership pre-election worked to his advantage; otherwise, Keter could have easily overpowered him, given his large following.

DP Ruto, however, had insisted on six-piece, or slate voting.

Keter, a two-time legislator, had earlier faced an uphill task during the nominations. He was awarded a certificate, which later was withdrawn.

The former legislator has conceded defeat.

“The people of Nandi Hills needed change, that's why they gave me a chance to serve them,” an elated Kitur said.

In Mosop constituency, Abraham Kirwa defeated Vincent Tuwei who has served for a term. Kirwa garnered 46,209 votes, winning in a landslide against Tuwei's 14,575.

The businessman who has spent many years in the US said he returns with extensive experience that will help him propel development.

UDA's Marianne Kitany, DP Ruto's former chief of staff, won the Aldai MP seat. She won 42,015 votes against Cornelly Serem, an independent, with 13,309 votes. 

Serem has served for two terms, from 2013 to 2022.

Once sworn in, she will be the second woman MP in Aldai constituency after former head of Civil Service Dr Sally Kosgei who served from 2008 to 2013.

In Chesumei, Paul Biego became the MP-elect after garnering 52,920 votes in a landslide against Abednego Kipkogei, an independent who got 1,655 votes.

Wilson Kogo, the immediate former MP, did not defend his seat.

Biego said he is a solutions-based leader and will embark on enhancing education through efficiency and transparency in  managing constituency resources.

Cynthia Muge is the woman representative-elect after garnering 275,500 votes, followed by Stella Rutto with 22,732 and Truphena Korir with 7,922 votes.

The seat was previously held by Dr Tecla Tum who did not defend it but ran for Emgwen constituency.

UDA's Muge, 29, campaigned aggressively to win the seat. In 2017, she ran as an independent to win the MCA for Kilibwoni ward in Emgwen constituency.

"I represent the women of this nation, I'm set to bring hope and change to uplifting women in this county and the country at large,” Mugwe said.