As the nation is gearing up for the 2022 general elections, a group of elders in Uasin Gishu county has hinted at a possibility of coming up with a new formula to share out top political seats in the county.
According to a Kalenjin elder Major (Rtd) John Seii, before the next poll, elders from key communities in the county will meet and agree on how to ensure equitable distribution of leadership positions.
Speaking in Eldoret town on Thursday, Seii, however, said it was too early to start speculating on whether they would stick on the previous formula or come up with a new one.
“It is still too early to give a statement on this matter as those who succeeded in various seats are still readjusting and we don’t know how it would be in in the next two or three years,” he said.
“However I want to confirm that for sure before the next elections, the elders will meet and give a statement and a direction as well as an advice of how they would wish the seats be shared out,” added Seii who played an active role in pushing for their seat-sharing formula ahead of the August 8, 2017 poll for governor.
In their formula, the elders had said the governor be reserved for a candidate from the county’s northern region, senator for the eastern region and Woman rep for southern.
Though the formula was largely criticized, it was at the end followed as governor Jackson Mandago from the north, majorly inhabited by the Nandi community retained the seat with the Senate and Woman Rep seat also being won by individuals from areas suggested by the elders.
The Keiyo community is the majority in the eastern part of Uasin Gishu while the southern is largely cosmopolitan with Nandis and Keiyos making a bigger part of the population.
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