A Community at Crossroads : Aaron Cheruiyot or Johana Ngeno?

The current widening political rift between the Senate Majority Leader and Kericho Senator Aaron Cheruiyot and Emurua Dikirr MP Johana Ng’eno continues to redefine the future of the vote-rich Kipsigis community, as political pundits put it, it may redefine the future of Kalenjin politics post-William Ruto Presidency.

What began a mere sibling rivalry and a jostling for the tag ‘king pin’ has now spiraled into a full-blown political campaign, with the two camps seeking well-oiled and connected sponsors from within and outside the region.

The rise of Aaron Cheruiyot

But where did it all begin? After the victory of President William Ruto in August 2022, Senator Cheruiyot was viewed as the de facto heir and face of the presidency among the Kalenjin community.

Young, and ambitious with a gift of the gab, Senator Cheruiyot was picked for the influential position of the Senate Majority Leader.

UDA party insiders said that this elevation was a directive from President Ruto himself who viewed Cheruiyot as a reliable foot soldier in the legislature.

Senator Cheruiyot dalliance began in the year 2016, when as then nondescript youth pulled a surprise by flooring seasoned politicians to clinch the Jubilee party ticket for Kericho Senate seat that has been left vacant following the appointment of Charles Keter as Cabinet Secretary.

With the campaign slogan Kiptoiyot Komas Kasit- which loosely translate to ‘it is the turn for a young man,’ Cheruiyot used his youthful energy to defeat the region’s political giants including the former Roads Minister Franklin Bett and former ODM Secretary General Magerer Langat.

His victory is said to have surprised President Ruto himself who was then the Deputy President and the de-facto Kalenjin king pin. The win also permanently extinguished the political star of Charles Keter who then was Ruto’s point man in the region. Keter had apparently opposed Cheruiyot’s candidacy, instead opting for Sammy Chepkwony, a move that had infuriated a section of Kericho residents.

Cheruiyot would proceed to win the Senate seat trouncing the former Belgut MP Paul Sang who was vying on the KANU ticket. The elections was hotly contested and was a lime test of President Ruto’s and the newly formed Jubilee’s Coalition popularity versus his then arch-rival former Bomet Governor Isaac Rutto and his Chama Cha Mashinani party. Governor Rutto’s rising political star and his bravado to take on William Ruto in his backyard was a valid threat to the latter’s ambitions to rise to the country’s top seat

.Isaac Ruto was in support of the KANU candidate and had mounted a well-funded campaign against Jubilee Coalition.

Cheruiyot’s win in 2016 was therefore god-sent for the then Deputy President William Ruto as it cemented his grip on the region. It was also the beginning of political rise and rise of Senator Cheruiyot.

Johana Ngeno

Before the current fight for the ‘Kingpin’ position, Ng’eno was perhaps known as a ‘political renegade’ among the disciples of President William Ruto. A ground mobiliser, abrasive and always ready to speak his mind, Ngeno is known has been known to speak some ‘inappropriate facts’ that could often go against President Ruto’s ‘version of facts’ in the region.

Born and bred in Emurrua Dikirr Constituency of Narok County, Ngeno has been embraced both as warrior and a liberator of his constituents who had for years fought for autonomy from Kilgoris constituency.

His constituents, mostly from Kipsigis Community, had discriminated in the larger Kilgoris Constituency which is dominated by the Maa speaking people. Their prayers were finally answered in the year 2013 when Emurua Dikirr constituency was created.

It is therefore fair to say that Johana Ngeno is a self-made politician. Unlike many Kalenjin politicians who attribute their political rise to former president Daniel Arap Moi and the current President William Ruto, Ngeno’s political lifeline has been fueled by the fanatic following by his supporters.

If anything, some political supremos in the region had for a long time viewed Ngeno as ‘an outsider’ as he leads a small constituency in Narok county and –according to them be a spokesperson for the Kipsigis community who dominate Bomet and Kericho counties.

To support this narrative, Ngeno has since 2013 went ‘community’s party position’, vying on KNC ticket and KANU ticket in 2013 and 2017 respectively. It was only during the 2022 elections that he joined President Ruto’s UDA party.

Kingpin politics

Fast forward to 2022, with the victory of President William Ruto, Ngeno wasn’t a big beneficiary of the UDA government in parliament in comparison with Senator Aaron Cheruiyot. He was only elevated from being a ‘back bencher’ to being the chair of the Housing Committee.

But his decision to vie on the UDA party which is considered as the popular party for the Kalenjin community redefined his political fortunes, with the president now concentrating on national politics and wooing other regions to support his 2027 re-elections, the battle for the region kingship was left in the hands of Senator Cheruiyot, the senior most politician in terms of ranks.

And this is when Ngeno discovered the political soft –under belly of the Majority Leader. An eloquent debator , young and energetic, Cheruiyot is a force to reckon in the parliamentary corridors and can win any battles in that realm. But back in the villages, the Senator is known to be not so eloquent in the Kipsigis language, often missing out on some key words or often sneaking in a dash of the queen’s language.

Eloquence in the Kalenjin language is a key asset for any leader in the region and it is regarded as what made President Ruto gained competitive advantage over former Baringo Senator Gideon Moi.

He also plays the ‘system politics’ , always emphasizing on the UDA’s government manifesto and the solution it provides to the region’s problems. It is partly due to this that some critics have termed him as an ‘elitist.’