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Sunday, April 23, 2017

RUTO VERSUS MANDAGO

Jubilee Primaries Fiasco
What happened on Friday, 21st April, 2017 during Jubilee primaries in Jubilee strongholds was a fiasco never witnessed in any primaries in Kenya's multiparty era. The secretariat gross incompetence was mind boggling,that not a single polling station received adequate ballot papers was a paradox.

Jubilee Party housed in a state-of-the-art headquarters manned by top notch technocrats left everybody tongue tied.The brain power led by Tuju, and their failure to avail ballot papers with
billions of shillings at their disposal will remain a puzzle for decades to come.

At first it looked like the shortage of ballot papers was confined to North Rift particularly in Uasin Gishu and Nandi counties. Hence local mistrust revolving around Mandago and Buzeki erupted.
The mistrust further almost unleashed mayhem in Nandi county where Jubilee offices were surrounded by rioting mob some of them inscribing CCM on the walls.

Indeed Jackson Mandago and William Rutto the deputy president are no longer friends.
It appears their differences were camouflaged and were not as public as is the case with Isaac Rutto.
It needed a trigger to make it public.

It should be noted that Jackson Mandago was not the choice of William Rutto in 2013 but a people's choice, Dr Bittok was Rutto's preferred candidate. If Mandago loses to Buzeki chances are he will resign from Jubilee and opt for independent status. In that scenario the North Rift and in particular the Nandi community will tilt towards NASA.

With Isaac Rutto a Kipsigis and Jackson Mandago a Nandi and both being charismatic and bold, chances of William Rutto delivering votes to Jubilee will be a tall order. The Nandi community trusts Jackson Mandago more than William Rutto. Should Rutto openly confront Mandago and lash him in public funny scenes will emerge.

Let us hope that sanity will prevail and that current Kalenjin leadership will see the need for team work and unity in diversity.

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