[Uasin Gishu Goverbor Jackson Mandago in a past event. He was backed by NASA leaders due to their rivalry with DP William Ruto/Nation]
Frosty relationship between Deputy President William Ruto and Uasin Gishu governor Jackson Mandago informed NASA’s decision to back the embattled Governor for another term.
Although he publically pronounced his support for Mandago, analysts still believe that DP Ruto supports businessman Zedekiah Kiprop alias Buzeki as governor silently.
And intelligence from NASA team indicated that Mandago was still bitter at Ruto, making them to throw their weight behind him, a move that could sway NASA’s votes in his favour.
“We are privy to Uasin Gishu politics and we know that DP Ruto lied to Mandago. It was just from our research and we thought it could be fair if we backed him,” says a senior member of NASA Secretariat who spoke in confidence.
He adds: “The NASA votes were evidently in Buzeki but despite Mandago being in Jubilee, we really sympathize with him and that is how we arrived at the decision.”
The opposition team led by Raila Odinga sent shock waves across the country when they backed Mandago on Wednesday, despite being a staunch member of rival Jubilee party.
Likely to sway in favour of Mandago are immigrant votes especially from Luhya, Luo, Kisii and Somali communities in Uasin Gishu county.