Elgeyo Marakwet: Philip Kipruto secures narrow win in UDA’s Metkei ward primaries
Kipruto garnered 2,117 votes to be declared the winner in the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) primaries in Metkei ward, Elgeyo Marakwet County, while his closest challenger, Daniel Kipruto Chirchir, managed 1,778 votes.
Victor Kiptui Mutai got 71 votes, while Nancy Jeruto Barsulai managed 31 votes on Saturday, September 20, 2025, in the UDA primaries.
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Another aspirant, Stephen Kiprotich Kiprono, got a paltry eight votes.
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Acceptance speech
In his speech after receiving his UDA nomination certificate at the tally Centre at Kaptagat Girls High School, Kipruto thanked the voters for believing in his leadership.
“Thanks a lot for voting me back. I’ll just come and continue from where. I promise not to disappoint you,” Kipruto stated.
He also lauded the move by UDA to use biometric voting, which he noted made the exercise free and transparent.
According to Kipruto, his major areas of focus will be youth empowerment and improvement of infrastructure, especially the road network at the grassroots.
The seat fell vacant after area Member of the County Assembly (MCA) Larry Kibire resigned and was subsequently elected Elgeyo Marakwet County Assembly Speaker.
Low turnout
The primaries were marred by a low voter turnout, with 4,005 out of 7,980 registered voters in the ward turning up for the exercise.
Kibire, who cast his vote at Kabirbirsus Primary School polling station, lauded the electronic voting system employed by the party.
“The process is seamless. It is efficient, and from the look of things, it doesn’t even take 30 seconds to vote. We believe that the system developed by our party will reconfigure how elections are done in this country,” Kibire detailed.
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“The only addition I think we should be able to add is the biometric configuration, which will make the system seamless. The system is proof of people who may want to vote twice. Our party is leading the way on how elections can be done. I want to believe that in the 2027 election, we will be able to adapt the digital mode of voting and we will have a peaceful and prosperous country,” he added.
He added that the new system adopted by UDA can work offline and can be used even in remote areas of the country.
Metkei ward residents who spoke to People Daily lauded the electronic voting system, which they noted has made the exercise more efficient and credible.
“This should be emulated by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) in the forthcoming general election because it meets the threshold of being a good system. The only challenge we’ve witnessed is a low voter turnout. Otherwise, the process is very smooth, and we’ve not witnessed any anomaly or any ugly incident,” Benjamin Towett, a resident, observed.
The by-elections for the seats will be held on Thursday, November 27, 2025, after the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) gazetted a schedule for all pending by-elections.
