•Inyangala revealed that it was a very difficult decision for him to step down for his wife but he did it for the sake of his Kabras people and Kakamega as a whole.
•He was speaking in Malava on Sunday where elders from his Kabras clan endorsed his wife for the county's second top seat.
Ronald Inyangala who wanted to run for the Malava parliamentary seat has shelved his political ambitions to pave way for his wife to take up the governor running mate position for Kakamega county.
Beatrice Inyangala of the United Democratic Alliance will deputise Cleophas Malala who intends to succeed governor Wycliffe Oparanya on the Amani National Congress ticket come August 9 this year.
The move now complicates the candidature of the current Kakamega deputy governor Philip Kutima who is eyeing the governor’s seat on a Democratic Alliance Party-Kenya ticket.
Kutima hails from the same community as Inyangala.
Political pundits hold that the bloc vote from the community will be split, even more, shared between Kutima and Ayub Savula.
The two are locking horns for the DAP-Kenya ticket and will face off with Fernandes Baraza of ODM and Malala.
Inyangala revealed that it was a very difficult decision for him to step down for his wife but he did it for the sake of his Kabras people and Kakamega as a whole.
He was speaking in Malava on Sunday where elders from his Kabras clan endorsed his wife for the county's second top seat.
“I had declared my candidature for the Malava constituency seat and I was very competitive. If anyone counted, I would be among the top three top contenders,” he said.
Inyangala said he had released his wife wholeheartedly to serve the people of Kakamega and promised full support for her political ambition.
Beatrice said it was a great honour for the women of Kakamega for her to have been accorded the huge responsibility of taking the mantle to deputise Malala.
She said she will remain steadfast in supporting the Kenya Kwanza coalition and pledged to lead Deputy President William Ruto’s quest for the presidency.
She said under her watch, Kakamega will have participatory leadership that will address balanced development in the county.
“My sole promise is to listen to concerns and prioritise the people's wishes in our development plans to ensure we have equitable distribution of resources," she said.
"It’s not about the deputy governor position, but what the county can do for the people. We have problems with roads, bursary distribution, water and there is an unfair share of development.”
The deputy governor hopeful said among her priorities will be to empower women through enhancing and strengthening their small businesses and their women groups.
While reading the endorsement speech, elder John Maina said they have faith in her and thanked Malala for agreeing to work with a woman.
“It’s the first time we are picking a woman leader in Malava to vie for a top position. We have given her our blessings and we endorse her to vie for that position," Maina said.
"We know she will help us address development like infrastructure and provide bursaries among other issues.”