The Bungoma County Senatorial position was left vacant after honorable Moses Wetangula was elected as the Speaker of the National Assembly. This is because this was the part of the deal that they signed together with the other Kenya Kwanza counterparts. Part of the pact was that if they formed the government, then he was to resign and be elected as the Speaker of the National Assembly.
The law stipulates that the IEBC should conduct a by-election after the seat is declared vacant upon the holders’ resignation. The by-election will be conducted next week and there are a total of eleven candidates who have expressed their interests in succeeding Moses Wetangula.
The seat was won by a Kenya Kwanza candidate during the general election and it was expected that they were going to go the same route. This has however not happened because the former Senator has his own preferred candidate who will vie using his own Ford Kenya party. His candidate is honorable Wafula Wakoli who has also received some support from many members of Parliament and leaders in that county.
The ruling party UDA has also fielded a candidate. The name of the candidate is honorable Mwambu Mabonga. This has caused some sibling rivalry in the Kenya Kwanza camp because the party was not to field its candidate.
Honorable Musalia Mudavadi said that they expected that the other parties which form the Kenya Kwanza coalition were not going to field any candidate in that county the same way they did not field candidates in Elgeyo Marakwet and also in Garissa. According to them, they obey the agreements and do not go against them.
He added that the seat should be reserved for Ford Kenya because it was primarily in that party. His party ANC will also not field any candidate in that by-election because of the obvious reasons of sibling rivalry. The rivalry may give honorable Wafula Wamunyinyi some good ground and deliver that seat to Azimio La Umoja because the two parties may split their votes.
This may give him a good ground to pass in between them and emerge victorious. It may be viewed as a through pass if he conducts his campaigns well and covers some good ground. As it stands, Ford Kenya and UDA will split the votes but if they decide to leave one person to fly the flag, then Kenya Kwanza may retain that seat.
