What is cooking inside Nakuru's political pot?

Nakuru county, widely regarded as Kenya's political hotbed has always lived to serve the expectations of its tag.

Since devolution, the political happenings in the county have served to gauge and shape the country’s political landscape following its cosmopolitan composition and strong positions taken by its vocal leaders on various national topics.

Of prominence has been the top county leadership which has for the last decade been the epicentre of the county’s political discourse.

The decisions and positions taken by the governor in regards to various issues have always been providing a subject of debate among other political leaders.

In a similar trajectory, Governor Susan Kihika’s regime appears to follow the script played by her predecessors, when her contentious decisions invited rebuttal from other leaders and residents.

This was evident during the recruitment of members to her cabinet as well as during the botched takeover of the war memorial hospital which attracted divergent reactions.

However, things appear to have changed courtesy of governor Kihika’s style of leadership where she seems to operate in silence without showing much concern with happenings at the national level.

Political activities are currently being done at the constituency and ward levels where intense mobilization is happening at the grassroot levels.

The spotlight has shifted to the Members of parliament and the ward representatives who have been forced to activate their political machineries to counter the pressure.

Some of the constituencies that have experienced intense political activities include Njoro, Gilgil and Nakuru Town East.

Njoro MP Charity Kathambi is facing intense pressure from groups or residents and civil rights organizations, who are demanding accountability in the usage of the Constituency Development Funds.

At some point last year, a resident Daniel Kimani, sued the CDF office over complaints of irregular awards of tender by the procurement office. This saw the court issue temporary orders stopping the release of CDF funds to execute the tenders for at least 25 projects.

The case was withdrawn after the court allowed the parties to form a shadow committee to oversight the usage of the funds and procurement processes in the county.

Following similar complaints by residents, the Ethics and Anti- Corruption Commission (EACC) summoned a number of officials to record statements on the procurement of school buses in the constituencies.

Other issues forming grounds for political arguments include the bursary allocation for short courses in the vocational training institutes, among others.

Behind the pressure is also the political aspirations of individuals who have expressed interest in wresting the MP seat from Ms Kathambi.

Leading the race is Lare ward representative Philip Wanjohi who has shown interest in the seat, Mr Paul Bii among others.

Gilgil sub county has also experienced an increased political activity with questions around accountability and development forming the base for the political undertones.

Recently, a standoff ensued after a group identifying themselves as Gen Zs stormed the CDF offices, demanding to be furnished with audit books in order to examine them.

Led by Mr Daniel Kimani who is a youth leader, the group sought to put the fund managers to account for the usage of the monies allocated to them.

However, their protest was said to have been hijacked by goons who were allegedly paid by certain political figures to disrupt them.

In addition, the frequent trips made by the Nakuru county secretary Dr Samuel Mwaura have raffled feathers of politicians in the county who have interpreted it as an expression of interest for the seat.

Dr Mwaura who has termed the trips as development tours has not publicly expressed interest in gunning for the seat.

In Nakuru East, battle lines have already been drawn as different individuals embark on early campaigns to dethrone the incumbent MP David Gikaria.

Menengai East ward representative Wilson Mwangi has been having busy schedules visiting different places and making contributions, in what appears as a strategy to promote himself ahead of the electioneering period.

On the other hand, is a businessman Maina Wakabura, who has been on a philanthropic spree donating to and assisting residents across the constituency.

Mr Wakabura has been running an initiative dubbed ‘Maina Wakabura and friends’ which has gained popularity in the recent past following the donations it has made to the communities.

At some point, Mr Wakabura was summoned by the Directorate of Criminal investigations to record statements after he was suspected to have funded the Gen Z protests that rocked the country.

The individuals are capitalizing on the slow development and criminal gang menace which they say the current MP has failed to address.