A crisis is looming in the Jubilee Coalition on the right candidate to be fielded in Borabu parliamentary seat as the coalition seeks to get inroads in Nyamira County, a top Jubilee leader has revealed.
Ben Momanyi, a populist area MP and a member of Wiper is said to be pursued by Jubilee government, but the move has not been easy given his closest challenger and a friend to DP William Ruto Patrick Osero is keen to run on the Jubilee ticket.
According to the leader, President Uhuru Kenyatta and DP William Ruto were impressed with Momanyi’s reception by people during their one day visit to the region late April, and instructed Education CS Fred Matiangi to organize a meeting with Momanyi in State House.
“There is a huge rift between Momanyi and Osero given that Momanyi is an asset for our party while Osero has been Ruto’s long-term friend,” said the leader who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter.
“The top leadership is keen to have Momanyi on board given his influence on the ground and I am aware that Matiangi was instructed by the President to have Momanyi invited to State House for further deliberations. Both wants as well to work with Jubilee," added the leader.
But Momanyi has persistently refuted the claims that he was planning to decamp to JAP official when its offices will be launched on June 12, in Nyamira town.
When contacted by the reporter, Osero evaded the question but insisted that he would run for Borabu seat.
“I don’t know much about the party but all I know I will run for Borabu seat because I am keen to win. The issues of party and other people intending to run on some parties is a matter that will be left for people to decide,” he said.