BUNGOMA SENATE RACE UPDATE...

As the date set for the by-elections in Bungoma county nears, candidates are going flat out to woo supporters as the race to replace the speaker of the National Assembly tightens.

Due to the expansiveness of the county with 1.7 million people, some of the candidates have improvised strategies to reach the voters by meeting groups in homes and churches.

The tickets to watch closely are that of the UDA party and Ford Kenya due to the thousands of supporters loyal to the two camps.

Ford Kenya candidate has been seen in the company of his party's members of Parliament and a few MCAs thus reinforcing the notion that he is a "Project"of the Party Leader Hon. Moses Wetang'ula who had endorsed him long before the election date was set by the IEBC. 

The UDA candidate Mr Walter Mukinginyi Trenk is still holed up in Nairobi awaiting the ticket because, to quote his words, "fear of intrigues around party tickets".

President Ruto's UDA Candidate, Walter Mukinginyi Trenk.

Asked about when he planned to hit the ground for the campaigns, Trenk said that he will be officially launching his campaign after the Mashujaa Day holiday and would stay on the trail for the remainder of the period up to the elections scheduled for the 8th of December.

The other candidates in the race have been conducting low key campaigns in the villages.

It is not yet clear whether the UDA MPs and MCAs will also stand behind their candidate in the same way as FORD Kenya elected leaders have done in the last couple of days. If they do so, it will be interesting to watch how it plays out and which group is likely to sway more numbers to their side.

President William Ruto and Moses Wetang'ula who are the party leaders of the two parties may not be seen on the campaign trail because both of them would be keen to remain non-partisan and to maintain unity and friendly relations within Kenya Kwanza. It will be a litmus test for harmony within the ruling coalition where both parties will seek to allow the exercise of the democratic and civil rights and retention of loyalty among their respective supporters and at the same time run a cohesive political outfit with a national mandate to govern. 

The UDA candidate, when reached out for comment, said that in the long run, the parties would have to merge into one in order to build bridges across the kenyan communities and for consolidation of the numbers for future elections. It would bring everyone on a bigger platform with equal stakes, he said.

Mr. Wakoli on the other hand decried what he termed as an encroachment of UDA on Ford Kenya's turf. But the UDA candidate differed by inviting Ford Kenya and any other party within the coalition to field candidates in UDA strongholds of Elgeyo Marakwet County, Kandara and Garissa Town Constituencies. According to him, ring fencing of regions, popularly known as zoning is unconstitutional since it infringes on the democratic rights of the individual members by its blatant denial of rights of choice, association, and to exercise their political rights as set out under Article 38 of the constitution of Kenya.

Wetangula's Ford Kenya candidate David Wafula Wakoli.