Writes Leo Odera Omolo In Kericho Town.

The Urp’s hope of spreading its wings and influence as well of political cout in the South Rift region of the Rift Valley Province is fading much faster than the party’s leadership ha expected following the party’s recently concluded “Kangaroo” grass root elections.

In both Kericho and Bomet Counties only those William Ruto’s sycophants whose nominations and eventually the elections into various branches and County offices were staged managed had the opportunity of being elected during the much flawed election, which reminds the local of the KANU’s hay days, when party officials were only selected than being elected in a democratic manner. These elections have left the URP parties on whose ticket, the Eldoret North MP William Ruto intend to use its ticket in his presidential bid wounded.

The poorly organized grass root elections left the trail of jittery between those who were hand-picked to fill the county and district branches and those who felt they were deliberately denied their democratic and constitutional rights of contesting the elections for the various party’s positions.

The stakeholders and party operatives and sympathizers in the two counties have agreed that the elections were pre-determined by the URP leadership, and only those who were sanctioned by Ruto had succeeded in winning position.

Instead of enhancing and strengthening the party’s position in the two region, it has even worsened Ruto’s position and standing among he Kipsigis people.

Those who had maintained that Ruto’s departure from the ODM had dealt a heavy blow to Raila Odinga’s popularity among the Kipsigis people have now changed their minds.

At the same time, the much highlighted report of the ditching of the ODM by the Sotik MP Dr Joyce Laboso. The MP had announced that she had ditched the ODM and run to the URP, alleging that the party had failed to deliver the goods to her electorates in Sotik.

The truth has since emerged that Dr Laboso only fled the ODM after realizing that the populist former Nairobi PC Francis Sigei, who has been a Kenya’s High Commissioner to Canada had resigned and headed for Sotik to contest in the same constituency.

Dr Laboso, who is arguably one of the highly educated Kipsigis women, in married to a Luo Mr Barrack Abonyo from Nyakach. She had stepped into the shoes of her younger sister the late Lorna Laboso who died in 2008 in an aircraft mishap together with the former Roads Minister the ate Kipkalya Kones, the former Bomet MP after narrowly wining in the consequent by-elections that followed. But she was given a run for her money by the former President Moi’s ADC Brigadier Sitienei who contested the by-election on an UDM ticket.

Brig. Sitienei had teamed up with the populist Gen Koech and had it not because Raila had intervened on her behalf the combined force was going to slaughtered and skinned her alive. Her defeat was inevitable and certain until Raila came into picture and vigorously campaigned for her. And now that she has ditched Raila Dr.Laboso political future as an MP now looked gloomy and cannot be accurately predicted y local pundit and observers alike. The voters were vehemently opposed to Dr.Laboso. The voters had protested against her saying that electing her was like giving the people of Nyakach constituency in Nyanza where she is married an additional parliamentary seat.

The Luo tug is still hanging on the neck and shadow of Dr.Laboso and not going to fade away in the near future and could be dashed and prove to be a pipe dream. The Kipsigis consider their daughter who I married to a Luo like a lost person and non-entity within the society.

Members of this proud sub-tribe of the larger Kalenjin ethnic group despises the Luos as uncircumcised people as called “Ng’ethai”singularly and plurally called all Luos as “Ng’ethic. Therefore a Kipsigis woman who is married to a Luo is derogatively called ”Cheplemindet.

In this context, Dr Laboso will have to go extra mile to clear herself of a Luo tug and win back her Sotik parliamentary seat, in what local, pundits have predicted to be an up hi task and a hurdles which she must overcome

Off course Dr. Laboso is a happily married woman with grown up children and the daughter of the highly respected Kipsigis farmer the late Fredrick Laboso, ho before becoming a businessman and a farmer had served the Kenya Tea Company Limited one of the multinational tea companies operating in Kericho and Bomet for many years as an accountant.

Dr. Laboso, however, survived the onslaught by the likes of Antony Kimeto {Sotet} the former Sotik MP whom her younger sister the late Lorna Laboso had beaten during the 2007 general election under the euphoria of ODM that was swiping he Kipsigs region clean of KANU. It was through the concerted effort and intervention by Raila Odinga the ODM party leader who managed to persuaded the dissenting voters to vote for Dr.Laboso.

William Ruto’s URP party is also facing formidable opposition as the Nicholas Biwott NVP and the UDM which is under the leadership of the popular former military boss Lt.Gen {rtd] John Arap Koech and KANU are said to be tightening their muscles on URP and are in the processing of driving URP out of the South Rift region..

Hon.Laboso’s departure is therefore considered by ODM operatives in the South Rift as in inconsiquental and might be a good riddance because she was not a high performer as an MP. Her presence in the URP may not have any value added consequences in the party.

Raila visited the South Rift over the weekend, and the tour by Prime Minister seemed to have rekindled the mass support for the ODM by the Kipsigis people. People in the huge crowd who attended the Prime Minister meeting first at Siongoroi Catholic Mission in Chepalungu constituency and later at Silibwet were heard shouting ‘KaiKai werit ap Cheramogi kosir bik chon tugul che mache ng’echeret.{The son of Jaramogi is the best among all those who aspiring to be elected the next

During the tour the three Kipsigis MPa allied to ODM series of meetings that Raila addressed in various places in the region meetings ab bounatet.These were the Road Minister Franklin Bett {Buret} .Assistant Energy Minister Magerer Lang’at {Kipkellion and Home Affairs Assistant Minister Beatrice Kones {Bomet}.

The MP advised his audience not to think narrowly and shallowly on tribal line, but to think like nationalist and work for tribes to come together as one people of Kenya.

At a recent meeting of the National Executive Committee of the UDM chaired by the party supremo Gen Koech and attended by over 30 delegates who attended the meeting in Nairobi two weeks ago.The UDM’s NEC was a full housed with the presence of its only MP Prof Hellen Sambili the Mp for Mogotio, the Vice chairman Chaftan Mokku, the Secretary General Martin Kamwaro.

All the indications after the meeting were that KANU would soon join this newly found formidable alliance, which is capable of clipping the wings of William Ruto‘s sweeping euphoria in the Rift Valley.

During his recent tour of Ndhiwa district where he had one to drum up the support for KANU candidate, Tom Otieno Onyango Aila, who contested the by election on a KANU ticket, but lost to an ODM candidate.

Ends