Baringo governor faces tough task to retain seat

The race for the Baringo gubernatorial seat is heating up, with the incumbent, Mr Benjamin Cheboi, trying to shrug off Kanu’s growing influence in the region.

Mr Cheboi, who is eyeing a second term, will have to contend with competition from Mr Simon Kiprono Chelugui to clinch the Jubilee ticket.

Mr Stanley Kiptis of Kanu, who came second in the 2013 General Election, will also be the other man to beat in next year’s polls.

Mr Chelugui was the running mate of Mr Kiptis in the last General Election, after losing the United Republican Party ticket to Mr Cheboi, a former chief executive officer of the Higher Education Loans Board.

Mr Cheboi said his administration had done a lot in its four years in office and exuded confidence that voters would give him a second term to complete his projects. He said the biggest achievement is in the education sector.

“As a county government, we are already offering 300 bursaries each year worth Sh12 million for students at youth polytechnics and another Sh12 million for those at tertiary institutions and universities,” said the governor.

He said the county government spends Sh30 million per year in secondary schools, adding that through Constituency Development Fund financing, Sh180 million a year is used to support education, alongside Sh5 million a year from Tullow Oil, which is in addition to other programmes such as the ones run by Equity Bank and Kenya Commercial Bank.

Seven new polytechnics have been constructed and 21 more will be put up. Eventually, each of the 30 wards will have a youth polytechnic, in line with the county government’s vision for education.

“We have also established six youth centres, one in every sub-county, to equip young people with ICT (information and communications technology) skills and develop talent. What we want is for people to access education at close quarters and at affordable rates,” said Mr Cheboi.

The governor added that work had already started to put up three high altitude training centres to develop athletics talent in the county.

SO FAR

The county boss said his administration had so far set up 220 early childhood education centres and targets a total of 320 by the end of the current financial year.

“We are focusing on our core business, which includes early childhood education and, so far, we have employed 1,830 teachers under this programme in which we spend Sh120 million each year. This easily makes us the county that has invested most in education,” said Mr Cheboi.

Mr Chelugui has, however, criticised the county government’s performance, especially in the education and health sectors, adding that most of the projects started in 2013 are still in progress despite the costs having been exaggerated.

He also said the county government had ignored this by shifting blame to the national government.

He also criticised the governor’s handling of the health sector.

“Kidney and cancer patients are suffering in Baringo yet other counties such as Nakuru, Machakos and Kakamega have improved their screening and treatment capacities,” he added.

“In 2015, we witnessed ugly leadership challenges in the health sector, resulting in a reshuffle. This docket consumes over 30 per cent of our Sh4.5 billion yet we have cases of negligence or inaction at our referral hospital, and staff who are thoroughly demotivated,” Mr Chelugui told the Nation.

The Nairobi-based businessman said the recent 2015 Baringo Entrepreneurship and Expo Summit was a great idea but founded on “quicksand”.

Mr Chelugui also criticised the county government’s “endless” foreign trips, adding that Mr Cheboi and his entourage went abroad for 136 days in 2015 at the expense of the taxpayer but have nothing to show for it.

“If benchmarking could build Baringo County, probably by now, we could be ahead of the Rwanda economy,’’ said Mr Chelugui.

He said he will also champion for the rights of all communities in the vast county, among them the Ilchamus, the Tugen, the Endorois, the Pokot and the Turkana, and look for a lasting solution to perennial cattle raids in the area, which have led to loss of many lives.

EXECUTIVE SECRETARY

Mr Kiptis, a former Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers Koibatek branch executive secretary, said his priority areas would be human development, health and education.

“It is a shame that 50 years after independence illiteracy levels in some areas in Baringo County are still at 81 per cent,” said Mr Kiptis, who will bank on the teachers’ support.

He said that having served for many years in the District Development Committee, he is well-versed with the issues affecting the people at the grassroots.

Mr Kiptis said he will also be at the forefront in bringing together warring communities in the cattle rustling-prone county, having been involved in conflict resolutions at various levels.

Residents who spoke to the Nation had mixed reactions on the performance of Mr Cheboi’s administration.

Mr Nicholas Koros from Ossen in Baringo North Sub-County said Mr Cheboi deserves another term owing to his performance record.

“As you are well aware, this is his first trial in devolution. I can rate him at 70 per cent. Among other issues, he has improved the health sector. Our towns are now secure, thanks to street lighting. He has also set up more dispensaries and many feeder roads at the grassroots,” said Mr Koros.

Others were of the opinion that the county had nothing to smile about.

Mr Solomon Komen, a resident of Baringo South Sub-County, said Baringo has been running a budget of Sh4 billion every year, bringing the total to Sh16 billion so far, but the county has nothing to show for it.

The governor race is expected to be a supremacy battle between Kanu and Jubilee and, by extension, between Baringo Senator Gideon Moi and Deputy President William Ruto.

Mr Ruto has been trying to make inroads into Baringo County, a perceived Kanu stronghold, in a bid to solidify his Rift Valley support base ahead of the 2017 elections.

The Deputy President has in the past two months toured the county four times, calling on locals to support the ruling coalition. His trips seem to have yielded results after Mogotio MP Hellen Sambili, the only Kanu MP in the county, joined Jubilee.

Prof Sambili moved after a delegation from Baringo County met the DP at his Karen residence, barely four days after the MP hosted the DP in her constituency.

Mr Moi has also been traversing the vast Rift Valley, urging locals to join Kanu, which has not gone down well with Mr Ruto’s supporters who perceive this to be a scheme to weaken the Deputy President’s hold on the region.