Public Health Minister Professor Sam Ongeri and former Assistant Minister Dr Hezron Manduku, are poised for a third bout in their election battles that started in 1988.The campaign semantics and the game plans of the two perennial rivals may be the same old ones, but this time round there will be a new dimension with the emergence of Ford People as a formidable force in Gusiiland politics.

Manduku is almost certain to get the Simeon Nyachae-led Ford People’s nomination to vie against Ongeri, who is also most likely to be the governing party Kanu’s nominee.The election battles pitting these two prominent sons of the Abagusii started in 1988 when they locked horns in the General Election, with Ongeri trouncing Manduku by 8,359 votes against 4, 910.

In 1992, Manduku outclassed Ongeri during the Kanu nominations, but come 1997, Ongeri turned the tables on Manduku during the party nominations. For all these years, the two medics have been sworn political enemies and this leaves no doubt that should Manduku sail through the Ford People nominations, the stage will be set for another a replay of the electoral tussle. There will be added drama, however, with the man who lost to Ongeri in the 1997 election, Ratemo Ouko Nyara of SDP has since joined the Ford People bandwagon and he is also eyeing the party’s ticket. Apart from Nyara, there are two other formidable aspirants, Alfred Nyairo, a lawyer who operates in Eldoret, and Kennedy Oguku - a US-based scholar.

Nyairo is seeking the Ford People ticket, while Oguku is yet to declare the party of his choice, but their entry into the Nyaribari Masaba politics is already causing ripples around the traditional Ongeri-Manduku strongholds. Also said to be in the race are Charles Ayieni Mirwoba, Nelson Onkoba Nyakoe, lawyer Kennedy Ombati, Nairobi businessman Elijah Moindi and Barclay Nyandusi Gisege. This constituency currently has a 44,272 registered voters.

Ongeri is perceived to be one of Nyachae’s foremost political adversaries. Already the Ford People euphoria has gripped the area and there have been showdowns involving the party’s supporters and those backing Kanu.And while the Ford People fervour and pro-Nyachae activism has been building up, Ongeri, the local Kanu branch chairman and his party’s operatives have been engaged with spirited fund-raising activities for schools, churches, women’s groups and other projects. On the other hand, the Manduku and Nyara teams say that the Ford People storm is gathering and that they will hit the ground with a big bang when the whistle is blown for the next General Election.The Ongeri group for their part are terming the comments from the Ford People camp “hot-air statements”.

The controversy-ridden Kiamokama tea factory will be a major issue during the campaigns and will partly determine which way the election stakes will be galvanised. The perpetual, but now curbed clashes along the Kisii-Maasai border will also be another crucial issue. Ongeri’s admirers say that never in the history of the constituency has there been development initiatives for schools, churches, hospitals and other spheres like during his tenure.On the contrary, Manduku and Nyara supporters brand the initiatives as “pork-barrel politics”, claiming that the educational standards and the tea and pyrethrum sectors are still riddled with pathetic problems.

Ongeri, in a rejoinder, says that those thinking that Nyaribari Masaba constituents will not judge individual contenders by their records of performance, will be in for a shock. Ford People proponents contends that their activities and development exercise are also being curtailed by some local government officials who instead favour their Kanu rivals. So, the big question in Nyaribari Masaba remains: Will the Ford People storm sweep across the constituency and prevent the Kanu team from coming to roost?Time will tell.