10 February, 2007

2007 Political Hotspots: Nakuru Constituency

Party alliances will determine the outcome of the elections in this highly cosmopolitan and politically volatile constituency. Young Mirugi Kariuki rode into parliament during last year's by-elections on a blistering campaign from Narc-Kenya bigwigs and a wave of sympathy after his father's death.

The Nakuru seat fell vacant after the MP, who was also assistant minister for Internal Security, died in a plane crash while en-route for peace talks in Marsabit. During the by-elections, Kanu and LDP then forwarded different candidates, Mike Brawan (LDP) and former Nakuru MP David Manyara (Kanu).

Though his has been almost too short stint to judge his performance, memories have faded, and so has the sympathy vote. ODM-K will also be fielding one candidate which will bring together the supporters of both Kanu and LDP

Knowing that Nakuru is a constituency that is highly indicative of how much support from different regions a party enjoys, both Narc-K and ODM-K have been trying to outdo each other in taking their campaigns there. Being such an unpredictable constituency in terms of support, it is still too early to even suggest the stronger candidates. But it will be an interesting place to watch.

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