Farouk Kibet: The darling of Malava people

As Malava people prepare themselves for a by-election likely to take place before the end of this year following the death of their member of Parliament Malulu Injendi early this year, it is now clear that many of the locals have a soft spot for President William Ruto’s private aide Farouk Kibet.

His presence in the area will have an impact on the outcome of the by-election.

Kibet has on several occasion stood with the people of Malava even before the death of Injendi dating back to 2009 when he could fundraise for various groups on the invitation of the late Musavini Nambwa.

It is no longer a secret that he is a darling of the people of Malava and will have a bigger say on who takes over as the next leader.

Since the demise of Injendi, Kibet took it upon himself to be with the people, and he has been spotted in the area more than twice a month on developmental trips that are now endearing himself well with the electorate.

His master of the local Kabras dialect now even makes him more welcomed in the area than any other leader.

His visit to Samitsi Girls and Samitsi Boys has changed the face of the schools.

For the Boys’ school, a stalled bus has been repaired and back to the road, and parents and stakeholders now say they found a caring friend.

Shamoni primary had the most dilapidated classrooms, and now renovations have been done, while Lugusi secondary already got a bus.

Kibet has sustained his forays in the area carrying out empowerment programs and harambes that has seen several self-help groups benefit with members hailing the program.

So far more than five wards have already had the harambee for groups held with the most recent being held at Luanda k in East kabras ward after a similar one was held at Matsakha in Butali/Chegulo ward.

Back to the by-election, the United Democratic Alliance party has been asked to speed the nomination process and find a suitable candidate for easy campaign that will hand it victory early.

So far, five candidates have expressed interest in the ticket among them, former high school principals Enock Andanje and Simon Kangwana.

Also advocate Leonard Shimaka and West Kabras member of county assembly David Ndakwa are fighting for the ticket.

It is not clear whether the son of the late MP Rhyan Injendi is still interested in the party after he expressed disappointments and even sought another party but was later seen at the recent empowerment program held at Luanda k in East Kabras ward.