𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐊𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐒𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐒𝐮𝐧𝐤𝐮𝐲𝐢𝐚’𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟕
𝐏𝐎𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐀𝐋 𝐀𝐍𝐀𝐋𝐘𝐒𝐈𝐒
When the results of last year’s presidential elections were being announced, George Sunkuyia, the Kajiado West MP, was in an ecstatic mood. William Ruto, the UDA candidate was winning and Sunkuyia could not hold it together; he shot up and broke into a toe-curling jig.
Then, things were looking up on the UDA front in Kajiado County. The party won three out of five MP positions, bagged the Senate and Woman Rep positions as well as a majority of seats at the County Assembly. The Speaker position in the Assembly was virtually assured.
One could not really blame Sunkuyia for erupting into a jig.
However, in hindsight and in view of developments that have since take place, many people now feel that the MP might have celebrated too early.
While UDA swept almost all the seats in the county, the party missed put on the most important prize; the governor’s position. Incumbent Joseph ole Lenku, against all expectations, outfoxed the other contestants and romped home victorious.
Expectedly, there were bound to be recriminations in the party. Former Kajiado MP, Katoo ole Metito, the UDA gubernatorial candifate, was not happy with the loss.
And that was to put it mildly.
Soon, Sunkuyia’s celebrations for retaining the Kajiado West seat were cut short after Katoo took a closer look at the vote patterns. He discovered that in Kajiado West, Sunkuyia got more votes than Katoo’s tally as governor candidate.
Unconfirmed reports indicate that Katoo immediately started giving Sunkuyia grief, to the effect that he selfishly sought votes for himself and not his party’s governor candidate. That marked the beginning of bad blood between the two erstwhile friends.
Those who know Katoo well say that he is a man known to nurse grudges and does not forgive easily.
Matters took a turn for the worse, for Sunkuyia, when newly elected President Ruto appointed Katoo State House Comptroller.
He now appeared to use his new position of influence to make life difficult for Sunkuyia. It has not been lost to many in Kajiado West that Katoo has so empowered Leah Sankaire, the Woman Rep, she is now considered the ‘acting MP’. Sankaire is about the only leader elected under UDA, who still has close ties with the State House Comptroller.
Word on the ground has it that Katoo could be grooming Sankaire to take Sunkuyia’s seat in 2027.
When it rains, it pours. That seems to be the current situation for Sunkuyia. While Katoo, through Sankaire has been breathing down Sunkuyia’s neck, Governor Lenku has been lying in wait plotting his revenge.
During Lenku’s first term, Sunkuyia and the Tangatanga brigade gave the governor a torrid time, ruthlessly attacking him at any given opportunity. Not one to take things lying down, Lenku decided to take the battle to Sunkuyia’s doorstep by propping up Moses Konana, a former PA to former Narok governor, Samuel Tunai, in Narok, to challenge the Kajiado West MP in the 2022 election.
Konana made a good showing in the election, losing narrowly to Sunkuyia by a mere hundred votes.
Lenku is not done with Sunkuyia yet. He is determined to back Konana as he makes a second stab at the Kajiado West seat in 2027, hoping to finally dethrone Sunkuyia.
No politician wishes to be in the situation Sunkuyia currently finds himself in.
When he is not putting off fires lit by Katoo and Lenku through Sankaire and Konana respectively, he is facing a near revolt from the electorate. They are now asking him what he has to show development-wise for being in the ruling party. The people of Kajiado West are wondering whether the man whose victory saw him embarrass himself with the mad jig, has sidelined him.
His situation is a far cry from Onesmus Ngogoyo, the Kajiado North MP, who despite also falling out with Katoo has nevertheless continued to thrive. Ngogoyo has managed to bring in high-flying personalities, including the president, his deputy and the Roads minister to initiate development activities.
Better still, Ngoyoyo has managed to repair his relationship with Governor Lenku and has been able to influence the employment of a number of individuals in Kajiado County, the most prominent being former Katoo running mate, Judy Pere.
Ngogoyo has also managed to place a number of people from his constituency in the national government. He is credited with influencing the appointment of a PS from Kajiado North
Sunkuyia, by contrast, cannot bost of any such achievements. The people of Kajiado West are asking him to name just one person whose appointment he has influenced.
It is therefore safe to say that Sunkuyia is a man under siege.
