A walk down Nakuru’s memory lane has shown that no Member of Parliament in the town has defended his seat twice in a row.
This is after the likes of David Manyara and Lee Kinyanjui who is the current chairman of National Transport and Safety Authority failed to secure political seats for a second term.
However, most Nakuru residents state that the late Mirugi Kariuki would have easily secured the MP’s seat twice in a row were it not for his death.
Mirugi was killed in a plane crash in Marsabit in 2006 on his way to a peace meeting. Also killed in the crash were five other members of Parliament.
It is still not known why this is the case but maybe, Nakuru people have embraced the late Prof Francis Imbuga’s saying that change is a good as a rest.
This may have been what happened during the gubernatorial elections in Nakuru County where Lee Kinyanjui who had been an MP contested the seat and lost to Kinuthia Mbugua, the current governor who was making his debut in politics after serving as Commandant of Administration Police.
Other than MPs, most leaders who have vied for a second term in office have not succeeded in their quest.
This is evident in the list of those who vied for some of the positions such as mayoral seats, before the promulgation of the new constitution in 2010.
Some of the former mayors are Mohammed Suraw and John Kitilit to name just but a few.
As it is, things are now different as the county system was adopted in the country which saw first time leaders being elected to office such as the governors, senators, women representatives and members of county assembly.
Being as it may, some of those leaders who occupy the seats right now such as Nakuru East MP David Gikaria and his Nakuru Town West counterpart Samwel Arama have stated that they will defend their seats.
Question is, will they break the tradition of Nakuru town not electing the same Member of Parliament twice in a row?