Ex-Health CS Nakhumicha, former MP Chris Wamalwa declare bid to unseat Governor Natembeya

Former Health Cabinet Secretary Susan Nakhumicha and ex-Kiminini MP Chris Wamalwa have announced their bid to unseat George Natembeya as Trans Nzoia county governor.

The two made the announcement on Saturday after meeting representatives from the Luhyia community to lobby for support.

Quoting both a Swahili saying ‘panapo wazee hapaharibiki jambo’ and a Bible text which exhorts people to come together and talk, Wamalwa said he had started conversations aimed at popularising his bid.

"Siku ya leo ilikua kusemezana, (today we have just had a conversation). We know Trans-Nzoia is cosmopolitan, and we are going to be all inclusive,” Wamalwa said while explaining why they met people from one community.

The former legislator said he chose to approach his tribesman first as they form one of the largest voting blocks in the cosmopolitan county.

“And my journey to become the Governor of Trans-Nzoia County has begun today,” he added, saying he will engage all county residents.

On her side, Nakhumicha said she had gotten blessings from her clan to forgo the Woman Representative seat and instead take on Natembeya.

"I want to thank you for the new directive you have given me, that from today I will walk knowing that I don’t just belong to Sitatunga ward or Cherangany Constituency but a leader of the whole Trans Nzoia. Today, they have removed me from the Woman Rep bid and advised me to seek the gubernatorial seat,” she said.

The former CS said the Constitution of Kenya guarantees all Kenyans their democratic right to aspire and seek any elective position.

 “Na Katiba ya Kenya inaruhusu Mkenya yeyote, wa jinsia yoyote, kua katika nafasi ya uongozi,” she said in Kiswahili, loosely translated to, 'the Constitution allows any Kenyan, of any gender, to seek and hold any leadership position'.

The two who are allied to the Kenya Kwanza coalition will have to square off between themselves to cling to the Ford Kenya ticket as they aim to unseat Natembeya of the Tawe movement.

The first-term governor recently dropped his bid for the presidency and instead announced that he will concentrate on his re-election on the DAP-K party ticket.

A fierce critic of National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang'ula, Natembeya has been crisscrossing the Western region de-campaigning both Wetang'ula and Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi, who are accused of betraying the community despite holding powerful positions.

The announcement by Nakhumicha, Kenya’s permanent representative to the UN-Habitat, is perceived as one of Wetangula’s strategies to tame the rising Natembeya.

Natembeya, a former administrator, defied the Kenya Kwanza wave in the North Rift and won the seat by garnering 158,919 votes against Wamalwa’s 79,020 votes in the August 2022 polls.