With just under eight months to the next general election expected to be held on August 9, 2022, many politicians in Uasin Gishu County have already made it clear on which seat they will be vying for.
Some have already hit the ground running, popularizing their bid, hoping they will convince voters to support them, and get that much-sought after party tickets.
Uasin Gishu is arguably a United Democratic Alliance (UDA) stronghold, and many of the aspirants will be seeking to get the party’s ticket.
But even as politicians go round the county seeking support for their bid, Uasin Gishu Senator Prof. Margaret Kamar has not yet declared which seat she will be vying for.
A few months ago, Prof. Kamar said she would be making a declaration of her next political seat in December, which is the month we’re in now.
The Senator’s choices seem to have been complicated with an announcement by Uasin Gishu Governor Jackson Mandago that he will be vying for the seat – which she is holding now.
Since Mandago’s entrance in the race, Prof. Kamar’s name has not been featured anywhere among those eyeing the Senate seat in 20022.
The race has now been billed as featuring Mandago, lawyer Kipchumba Karori, and Kass FM presenter Robert Arap Kemei.
So what next for Senator Kamar? What options does she have?
At some point earlier this 2021, the former Eldoret South Member of Parliament had been named as potential gubernatorial aspirant – a seat she unsuccessfully vied for in 2013.
It would be unlikely for the Senator to join the race now – but it won’t be too late either.
There has also been a talk of the Deputy Senate Speaker eyeing the Moiben parliamentary seat, an option that looks more viable for her keeping in mind that she is considered an anti-Deputy President William Ruto, having sided with the Jubilee party during a purge that kicked out allies of the DP from influential government positions.
And as the time ticks towards the end of December, which would usher in a campaign period, it is a matter of wait and see for Prof. Kamar’s next political move.