The outgoing Baringo Senator Hon Hon. Gideon Moi rose from a Member of Parliament to a senator but not with a vibrant political career like his father, the late president Daniel Moi who ruled Kenya for 24 years.
Born Prince on October 22 1963, the youngest son of despot Moi was chosen to be the heir of his father’s political star but he looks slow and unsure. He is nothing like his father who was nick-named the unschooled professor Kenyan politics.
The young Moi rose swiftly and fell immediately. He lost his Baringo senatorial seat after he was dealt a humiliating defeat by Hon. William Cheptumo who ran on United Democratic Alliance party ticket.
Baringo County has total of 232,258 registered voters but Gideon only managed a third, some 71,480 votes against Mr Cheptumo who garnered 141,777 votes. He failed to secure a third term in office after was beat by an outgoing MP for Baringo North constituency.
Mr. Cheptumo is a close ally of the President-elect Dr William Ruto who is Moi’s main political rival.
But Dr. Ruto has managed to uproot Moi his home turf after UDA swept all top seats in Baringo except in Tiaty where Hon. William Kamket managed to defend his parliamentary seat on a KANU ticket.
Mr. Moi remains the independent party’s chairman but a dwarf one after his emerging national stature got dented by the same man he barred from meeting his late father.
He first made a wrong move by shelving his presidential ambitions to drum up support and fund Opposition Leader Raila Odinga who was beaten by Dr. Ruto in the presidential race.
In fact Senator Moi went into the just concluded elections as confused man after it was rumored that he wanted to vie for Baringo Central parliamentary seat.
The President-elect Dr. Ruto has taken over, Moi’s backyard after Hon Kamket also crossed over to join the Kenya Kwanza Alliance. The outgoing DP toured Baringo several times and launched many development projects to benefit the locals.
But Senator Moi looked like a stranger in his own turf with Elgeyo-Marakwet Senator Kipchumba Murkomen claiming that he was the acting Baringo Senator.
His KANU party also lost the woman representative seat, which was held by Gladwell Cheruiyot, to UDA’s Florence Jematia. The prince is retires into the political cold as a bruised man after being beaten by Dr. Ruto, his main rival with whom he was embroiled in a protracted battle to control the vote-rich Rift Valley region.
Gideon’s chances of making a comeback seem slim since he is affiliated with the Azimio-One Kenya coalition which is currently witnessing a mass exodus of it’s members to Ruto’s Kenya Kwanza Alliance. Analysts argue that his resounding defeat marks an end to the Moi dynasty.
