KANU Secretary General Nick Salat in the Radio Jambo studio with Gidi and Ghost. |
Last week saw the Jubilee Alliance Party candidate, Aaron Cheruiyot, emerge victorious in the hotly-contested Kericho Senatorial by-election.
The March 7 by-election was seen as JAP's and Deputy President William Ruto's Waterloo in Rift Valley politics, after members of former ruling party KANU united with rebels from the United Republican Party (URP) to stage an aggressive and vibrant campaign to have KANU candidate Paul Sang, elected as the new Kericho County senator and as a result establish a new leadership order in the region.
However, to their surprise and that of their ardent supporters, it was JAP and Cheruiyot who carried the day.
Cheruiyot, who had endeared himself to a section of the voters with his slogan, Kiptoyot Komas Kasit (which loosely translates The Young Man Is Fit For The Job), garnered 109,358 votes against Sang’s 56,307. Daniel Tonui of New Vision Party (NVP) was third with 772 votes.
Six days after the by-election, KANU held a press conference where they rejected the results of the by-election announced by the IEBC, and declared that their candidate, Sang, had won by 126,000 votes against Cheruiyot's 33 000.
The Party accused IEBC and JAP of working hand in hand to manipulate the outcome. IEBC has since denied such allegations and consequently invited party officials to a sit down, to thrash out the matter.
“The geometric progression formula ensured that every vote cast for JAP candidate was multiplied by 1.5 to gain undue advantage,” the party's Secretary General Nick Salat said at the press conference.
KANU however said they will not pursue the matter in court and will wait until next year's general elections to prove their point.
As a follow-up to that press conference by KANU, Radio Jambo presenters Gidi and Ghost hosted Nick Salat on Thursday during the Gidi Na Ghost Asubuhi, show to shed more light on the party's allegations as well as answer calls from listeners over the same.
In case you missed that interview or would love to listen to it again, click on the link below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=1Q0lqSEiNCE