A youth leader from Bumula Sub-County, Bungoma, has narrated how the just concluded election was so polarised and why Kenyans need to support the winning candidates.
In an exclusive interview with WakajuanessLive.Com, Mr. Eric Nyoti recalled the chilly mornings where he’d wake up his team to go out and mobilise residents to vote for Kenya Kwanza’s President William Ruto, Bungoma Governor Kenneth Makelo and Senator Moses Wetang’ula, who later ditched the position to become the National Assembly Speaker.
“I could wake up at 5AM, call area representatives across my jurisdiction and meet all the targeted groups,” says Mr Nyoti, 34.
The ardent football fan, who was part of Lusaka’s campaign team that lost to then Governor Wycliffe Wangamati in 2017, adds that his relentless efforts to stick with Lusaka was not in vain as he did everything in his capacity to avoid a second loss for his boss.
Nyoti recalls his danger days in 2017 where he was poisoned by unknown people and luckily treated in Eldoret.
Despite being a target of opposition political camps due to his influence in his Bumula Constituency, Nyoti continued to risk his life just to see Mr. Lusaka elected again.
As a brilliant young man in political spheres, Nyoti devised other methods to attract voters. He launched his Nyoti Cup football tournament which attracted large volumes of his residents, mostly youth and elderly men.
“My tournament helped to converge thousands of football fans in my backyard and this really made my work easier to convey the message.”
However, his tournament was not only intended to attract votes to Lusaka but also preach the peace message to his supporters.
“Election without peace is not an election and I used the football platform to preach peace and we achieved this because we our different political camps accepted the results.”
He could also be seen in churches, CBO meetings, funerals and other social gatherings preaching peace and mobilising votes for the Kenya Kwanza team.
Unlike other youth leaders who could ask for facilitation, Nyoti says he could use his own resources in his mobilisation activities and doesn’t regret the results.
Governor Lusaka finally managed to beat Mr. Wangamati buy a wider range, something Nyoti says is a result of hard efforts they underwent.
Asked if he’d wish to be rewarded in Lusaka’s government, Nyoti says he did this out of good will and he will not turn down an opportunity to serve the people of Bungoma.
