Writes Leo Odera Omolo In Kericho Town.

For the second time in the political history of Kericho region two brothers-in-law are once again in the race in the contest for the lucrative position of the Kericho County governor.

In the 2002 general election, Charles Keter, then a newcomer in Kericho politics stood against his brother-in-law Chale Kirui who was then serving as the Finance Assistant Minister in the last KANU regime of the retired President Arap Moi and MP for Belgut.

Keter triumphed over Kirui in a bruising election victory which has left a permanent scar in the two families. Keter ids married to Kirui’s younger sister.

This time around Keter again will be in the race for the lucrative position of the Kericho County governor against Joel Kirui the younger brother of Charles Kirui who is n international economist running chains of businesses in both the UK and Kericho.

The Kericho County governor position has attracted some of the best brains and political personalities in the region which stretches from Londiani to Sotik about 50 kilometers in length.

Among the leading contenders is Eng.Kipng’eno Arap Ng’eny, the former Minister for Water Development in the last KANU regime of the retired President Daniel Arap Moi. Ng’eny is still being remembered as having served the country for many years as the most successful Postmaster General and later the Managing Director of the Kenya Posts and Telecommunications and also at one time as Permanent Secretary.

He ventured into parliamentary politics after retiring from the postal services in 1997 and becoming the first MP for Ainamoi constituency after it was curved out of the larger Belgut.

Ng’eny, however, lost his seat to the former CID Director Noah Arap Too in 2002 and has since concentrated in running and managing his vast investments in Nairobi, Kericho, Kuresoi and Kipkellion. He has also converted the former Mid-West Hotel, which for many years was one of the ultra modern hotels in Kericho Town into a privately managed Teachers Training College.

Charles Keter is said to be in the process of abandoning his Belgut parliamentary seat for the governorship race.

Other aspirants said to be in the race eyeing the same position include two senior university lecturers. They are Prof.Paul Chepkwony of Moi University, Eldoret and Dr. Malawi, a senior lecturer at the Eggerton University in Njoro.

Prof Chepkwony is not a new comer in Kericho politics. He contested for the Ainamoi parliamentary seat in 2007 and lost to the late David K Too. And again in the by-election that followed the accidental death of Tooin a shooting incident and came second to Too’s younger brother Benjamin Lang’at.

Also in the race is Jonah Keter, a former top manager with the Catering levy Trustee who had also served the tea farmers in the region as a member of the Tea Board of Kenya.

But the man to watch in this race is Sam Chepkwony the current chairman of the tea Research Foundation. He is a former secondary school teacher who had also served with the Brooke Bond Flower Company {Sulmac} in senior managerial position before he ventured into a chain of businesses within Kericho Town and large scale tea farming.

Chepkwony was until recently the chairman of the Kericho Water and Sewerage Company. He is said to be a very influential man within the Kericho business fraternity.

The bilingual Eng. Ng’eny who speaks fluently all the local vernacular languages such as Ekegusii, Dho-Luo and major foreign language Russian and German included has a head-start owing to his proven managerial capability going by his track record of development I the region. . But he will be pitted against the dot com generation. All the other aspirants are people in their late thirties and early forties.

While heading the Kenya Posts and Telecommunications Eng Ng’eny had facilitate employment opportunity for the Kipsigis youths, most of them are said to still serving with the parastatal in senior capacities, He is known to have been close to the ears of the retired President Daniel Arap Moi.

As far as political party choice in this region, ODM is still ahead of the rest followed by KANU and he struggling UDM, which its leadership is the subject of the legal tussle between the former Deputy CGS Lt.Gen {rtd] John Koech and the Eldoret North MP William Ruto.It is not yet know as to how long will the protracted court battles will take before the issue is resolved and the matter put to rest.

Kericho is one of the richest Counties in the South Rift, having close to 40 large scale tea estates and factories owned by foreign multinational companies. It is the single largest region which has employed many young Kenyans both in the labor force and skilled personnel sections.

These county’s political gravity is always rotting within the tea industry, but the region has other openings like dairy industry, sugar cane, maize, vegetables, beef, pyrethrum, coffee, bananas, bee-keeping and honey are other sources of the resources.

The retired President Daniel Arap Moi is still wielding a lot of political clout among members of the Kipsigis sub-tribe of the largest Kalenjin ethnic groups. His word is still obeyed like the law of the land, and the outcome of the next general election will depend on which side has Moi’s blessings. The general public seemed to have a lot of trust in the retired former head of state than the youthful politicians.

Ends