Towards the end of 2021, there seemed to be a bad blood building between Uasin Gishu Governor Jackson Mandago and Kapseret MP Oscar Sudi.
The two have been close friends – at least since 2017, but Mandago’s decision to join the Senate race had threatened to turn them into political enemies.
It all began when the governor said he would vie for the Senate seat in the upcoming polls. The announcement did not go down well with Sudi.
For the MP, he was of the opinion that Mandago should no longer be engaging in local politics but instead help look for Deputy President William Ruto’s presidential votes at a national level.
“Mandago atoke aombee kura DP Ruto kama wanaume wengine,” the vocal MP said.
But the governor remained adamant that he had a right to vie for any seat.
He at some point asked the legislator to focus on retaining his seat rather than attempting to dictate who vies for which seat in the county.
“Another aspirant cannot be telling others what to do. Wewe focus na Kapseret, hii kiti ya Senate haina ukarabati,” Mandago told Sudi – in what was quickly turning into a bitter exchange of words.
The tension between the two seemed to have calmed down, thanks to the Eldoret mega rally, where they were both tasked to organize it, jointly.
But since the Eldoret rally, there has been a change in governor Mandago’s political activities.
He is now a regular in DP Ruto’s rallies outside Uasin Gishu.
Before then, he would rarely be seen accompanying the second in command during his meet-the-people tours.
This was probably what Sudi wanted to see from the governor – joining other leaders campaigning for the DP.
Mandago is now a regular in Ruto meetings, from the Bomet and Kericho rallies to the recent Baringo and Nakuru mega rallies as well as the Posta Grounds rally, and Kirinyaga.
Interestingly, the governor seems to be a popular figure now among locals in the rallies he has attended.
He is turning out to be an asset that DP Ruto campaign team will need in the run-up to the bruising battle with former Prime Minister Raila Odinga.
But although he might have agreed with the Kapseret MP that he should be on the campaign trail, one thing remains certain, he has no plans of backing down from vying for the Senate seat in Uasin Gishu.
