Water CS Eugene Wamalwa and Senate Speaker Ken Lusaka. The two are important members of President Uhuru Kenyatta campaign team in the Western region. [Photo/standardmedia.co.ke]

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With over 1.8 million enlisted voters, the former Western Province is one of the most contested regions by the Jubilee Party and the National Super Alliance (NASA).

Just as NASA had identified the region as an important cog to springboard their ambitions to eclipse Jubilee from power ahead if the contested August 8 poll, the Raila Odinga-led outfit is keen to run away with a majority of the region's voters in the October 26 repeat presidential election.But to do that, they must first contain Jubilee's inroads even as they bid to turn the tables this time around.

Senate Speaker and former Bungoma Governor Ken Lusaka who was Jubilee's point man in the vote-rich region ahead of the August 8 polls is the man who still carries the hopes of Jubilee in the opposition-leaning region.Though he's supposed to be politically neutral, Lusaka's impact will be key to Uhuru's ambition to end Raila's hoodoo in the region.

Besides Lusaka, there is Water Cabinet Secretary Eugene Wamalwa who is also one of the most influential politicians in the region.He may not be as influential as Moses Wetangula and Musalia Mudavadi, but Wamalwa holds key to Uhuru's vote-hunt mission in the region.

After staging a mutiny against Raila Odinga, many political pundits had written political obituary for Sirisia MP John Waluke.But it was not to be as he easily defended his seat during the August 8 poll after surviving the NASA wave. Emboldened by his poll victory, Raila should not underestimate Waluke's political influence in the vote-rich Bungoma, the epicenter of NASA rebellion in the region.

In the neighboring Kakamega County, there is Benjamin Washiali. The Mumias East MP who is also the Majority Chief Whip in the National Assembly who managed to silence his critics with a resounding win during the August 8 poll. A staunch defender of Uhuru, Washiali is among Jubilee's trusted lieutenants in the region.