Former Cabinet minister and Keiyo South MP,
Nicholas Kipyator Biwott, is staging a comeback after a stint in the cold.
The MP is eyeing the Elgeyo/Marakwet senate seat and has launched
a series of campaigns to popularise his National Vision Party (NVP) countrywide
to woo supporters ahead of the General Election.
Mr Biwott is increasingly making forays into the Rift Valley
and other parts of the country to popularise NVP. Political analyst Philip
Chebunet says the former Cabinet minister seems to be capitalising on areas
where the ‘big’ parties have failed.
“His dancing alone on stage may still
keep him busy in the political arena. He wants to sponsor his own candidates to
remain afloat in the political arena,” said the Narok University
lecturer. Biwott, fondly referred to as ‘Total Man’, lost the Keiyo South
seat during the 2007 ODM euphoria. He had held the seat since 1979.
Biwott raised eyebrows last week when he picked on the National
Cohesion and Integration Commission Chairperson Mzalendo Kibunjia to preside
over NVP fundraising dinner on Wednesday at Panafric hotel in Nairobi. Biwott
replicated the move at a national fundraiser dinner held in Eldoret on Friday
evening last week in Uasin Gishu County. The dinner was presided over by NCIC
commissioner Lawrence Bomet and was followed by the launch of party office in
Iten on Saturday.
This was seen as an effort to raise the party’s profile
whose membership is targeted to cut across the country.
Lukoye Atwoli, a lecturer at Moi University and political analyst,
says Biwott is a secretive juggler, making it very difficult to read his moves.
“He is a very difficult person to read. He appears as though
he is going for the senate seat at the moment but you can never conclusively
tell what he and his party are up to,” he says.
“We do not even know who they will be fronting as their
presidential candidate and should not thus be surprised if they pull a
surprise,” he added.
Iten/Tambach Town Council Councillor Zacharia Kokoi says the
former MP deserves the senate seat since he boosted the region’s economic
status during his tenure. He says: “Biwott is the second Kalenjin
with the largest following within the community after Eldoret North MP William
Ruto and former President Moi.”
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