During the campaigns, in a battle perceived to be between Ruto’s UDA candidates and Independents in North Rift, Mr Keter faced an enormous task from UDA leaders who pitched camp in his constituency campaigning for his opponent Mr Kitur. Keter lost narrowly in the election after he garnered 18,037 votes against Kitur’s 23,503. The total votes cast were 41,979
Reports have now emerged of how top politicians from the North Rift plotted and successfully executed the political downfall of former Nandi Hills MP Alfred Keter with the blessings of President William Ruto. Mr Keter was widely believed to be anti-Ruto and the first plot was to lure him into joining the UDA party.
Without knowing that a trap had been set, he declared support for UDA and Ruto’s presidential bid then decamped from Jubilee party to defend his seat on the UDA ticket. He was later to be rigged out after he allegedly won in the party primaries having garnered 10,237 votes against his closest challenger Bernard Kitur who got 7,468 votes. Keter was later to decamp from UDA to run as an Independent candidate. Still without knowing that his political detractors had prepared the script which he blindly followed, leaving UDA was like hitting the last nail in his political coffin.
During the campaigns, in a battle perceived to be between Ruto’s UDA candidates and Independents in North Rift, Mr Keter faced an enormous task from UDA leaders who pitched camp in his constituency campaigning for his opponent Mr Kitur. Keter lost narrowly in the election after he garnered 18,037 votes against Kitur’s 23,503. The total votes cast were 41,979.
The bad blood between Alfred Keter and Ruto’s close allies was derived from the fact that Keter had in the past, been caught in the cross-hairs with William Ruto after he fiercely criticized the former Deputy President casting aspersions in his race for the presidency.
However, after realizing his opposition to William Ruto’s Presidential bid did not go down well with most of his constituents, Alfred Keter beat a hasty retreat and announced his support for Ruto, even seeking to defend his seat on UDA. To further show how Keter’s defeat was plotted, Ruto’s handlers ensured that Rigathi Gachagua visited the constituency and openly campaigned against him.
During his campaigns in Nandi Hills, Mr Gachagua urged the residents to vote for UDA aspirants and ignore independents out to spoil the party in the coming polls. Gachagua was quoted saying “This is the DP’s political bastion, and we do not expect you to let him down. Keter is my friend and I promise you that we shall give him other government positions when the Kenya Kwanza alliance wins the presidential election”.
Keter had been branded a rebel out to scuttle Ruto’s presidential ambitions, claims the MP vigorously denied, blaming his political enemies for creating a rift between him and Ruto for vested interests.
