Kajiado governor candidates are traversing the vast terrains by air in a dash to woo voters as election nears.
Tides appear to be shifting despite Governor Joseph Lenku' s confidence in recapturing the seat through an ODM ticket.
The region's richest vote basket, Kajiado North, which supported Lenku’s bid in 2017, has now been invaded by MP Katoo Metito (UDA) and former governor David Nkedianye (Jubilee).
In the last general election Lenku was in Jubilee. He got a lot of backing from President Uhuru Kenyatta after the party dealt a significant blow to the then governor Nkedianye.
Nkedianye was initially in ODM but has since moved to Jubilee whereas Lenku has gone to ODM, both Azimio La Umoja-One Kenya Alliance affiliates.
To avoid colliding in rallies, the Azimio leadership asked the leaders to campaign separately.
UDA's Metito has however made inroads in Loitokitok, Kajiado South and Kajiado North, where Lenku harvested many votes in the last election.
Lenku was however dealt a major blow after Nkedianye and Metito picked running mates from the vote-rich north, a strategy he used in the 2017 election.
Nkedianye picked Kajiado North MP Joseph Wathigo Manje as his running mate, while Metito picked Judy Pere from Ongata Rongai.
The governor who spoke in Kimana on Monday however attacked Nkedianye and Metito accusing them of selling the rights of the Maasai.
“The two are now carrying snakes in their pockets. They want to forcefully eject me from the seat by choosing to work with Kikuyus instead of working with us,” he said.
Lenku promised to do even better when he is re-elected.
Both Lenku and Metito hail from Loitokitok in Kajiado South.
This means votes from the Ilkisonko community will be split as other Maasai communities from the Kaputiei may settle for Nkedianye.
Nkedianye believes this time around, he is standing in the position that Lenku stood in 2017 and the governor has no choice but to concede defeat on August 9.
“The system favoured him then and I am now standing on the ground he was, in the last election. Even if they bring that zoning they are talking about, I am ready for it,” he said on Tuesday in Kitengela.
Metito however said he is not depending on human favours to win election.
The candidate spoke on Monday while campaigning in Loitokitok.
“They claim they have the backing of the state and the system but we stand by the living God and the people of Kenya to win this election,” he said.
On Monday Nkedianye asked Lenku to account for livestock losses due to the current drought that has devastated the county.
He spoke in Matapato North ward in Kajiado Central where he was accompanied by MP Elijah Memusi of ODM.
“The governor has kept quiet about the ongoing drought situation as if all is well. People need food in Kajiado Central and West subcounties. Our children are starving as their livestock drop dead each day,” Nkedianye said.
He urged Lenku to work with the national government to salvage the situation before people start succumbing to starvation.
Nkedianye later went to Mashuuru town where residents said they stopped receiving services from the local hospital three years ago.
However, Kajiado's first lady Ednah Lenku said hospitals in Kajiado stopped operations because residents are not subscribing to the National Hospital Insurance Fund.
She spoke while addressing a group of women in Loitokitok on Saturday.
“The money you pay to NHIF is brought back by the national government to buy you drugs in hospitals,” Ednah said.
She was however made a laughing stock on social media as people claimed she had no clue of how government is run.
However, Lenku has constantly claimed that the number of patients from Makueni, Machakos and Nairobi are jamming county hospitals due to improved services in the health sector.
Nkedianye and Metito however told Lenku to stop lying to the people of Kajiado, saying nothing is going on in the region’s hospitals.
“Hospital services stalled three years ago. There is no water in our towns and security lights in our major towns were switched off due to arrears,” he said.
The county boss however says some of the services stalled because the National Treasury has been holding county funds for months.
Nkedianye blames Metito for mentoring Lenku into Kajiado politics.
He said Lenku allegedly messed up the national security sector under Metito's watch and later became governor where he has also run down all government services.
Lenku was fired by Uhuru soon after he was made Interior CS after the al Shabaab attack on Westgate Mall in Nairobi West.
(Edited by Bilha Makokha)
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