Joshua Kutuny Announces Return to Politics, Vows to Campaign for William Ruto’s Reelection

• Former Cherang’any Member of Parliament Joshua Kutuny has officially announced his return to local politics
• Kutuny, who once served as former President Uhuru Kenyatta’s political advisor, has also dumped the Jubilee party
• He opened up on his plan to recapture the Cherang’any parliamentary seat under a different political vehicle

Trans Nzoia: Seasoned politician Joshua Kutuny has announced his return to Cherang'anyi politics, this time backing President William Ruto's reelection bid.

Kutuny, a former ally of President Uhuru Kenyatta and the Jubilee party's Rift Valley point man, was defeated by DAP-K candidate Patrick Simiyu in the 2022 General Election.

The former Cherang'any Member of Parliament, while announcing his political comeback on Wednesday, July 30, castigated those championing the ‘Tawe' and 'Wantam’ slogans while warning Trans Nzoia governor George Natembeya over his Tawe Movement.

Joshua Kutuny quits Jubilee party

Addressing residents at a function in the constituency, Kutuny passionately expressed his interest in supporting Ruto's second term and formally announced his decision to leave the Jubilee party and join the ruling United Democratic Alliance (UDA).

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"I made so many enemies for not supporting William Ruto in 2022, and if that was the case, I am now in President William Ruto's camp and I am confident of winning this MP seat again,” he said.

The former legislator was once Uhuru’s political advisor and also served as the deputy secretary general of the Jubilee Party.

He served as an MP for two separate terms, having first been elected in 2007 before he lost the seat to Wesley Korir in 2013. He won back the seat in 2017 but lost to the current MP, Simiyu, in 2022.

With his decision to join UDA, Kutuny will likely face off with Korir in the nominations.

Is Joshua Kutuny supporting Natembeya?

Meanwhile, the former MP vowed to campaign against Governor Natembeya and his allies in the coming polls.

"We have serious questions on privileges we are supposed to get from the county government and even from the current MP’s office. Our people are being discriminated in bursary allocations, many schools that are here are the ones that we constructed during my time in office, yet right now they are singing ‘Tawe and Wantam’,” Kutuny said.

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His sentiments come amid talks by the minority communities in Trans Nzoia to consolidate their support base behind one candidate who will face off with Natembeya.

Trans Nzoia is a largely cosmopolitan county, but a majority of voters are from the Luhya community.

During the 2022 General Election, Natembeya, vying on a DAP-K ticket, with the backing of the Azimio One Kenya coalition, won the seat after garnering 158,919 votes while his closest competitor, Chris Wamalwa of Ford Kenya, had 79,020 votes.

Did Natembeya betray Joshua Kutuny?

Previously, TUKO.co.ke reported that Kutuny had accused Governor Natembeya of betrayal.

The former MP claimed he introduced the governor to Cherang’any voters, but he ended up back-stabbing him.

He apologised for asking the voters in the constituency to support Natembeya’s gubernatorial bid. At the time, they were both members of the Azimio Coalition.

Proofreading by Mercy Nyambura, copy editor at TUKO.co.ke.

Source: TUKO.co.ke