As the Nakuru Gubernatorial race heats up, the county senator, Susan Kihika, has suffered a setback in her quest to succeed incumbent Lee Kinyanjui in the upcoming August 9 polls.
This is after a section of politicians affiliated with the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) outfit have declared that they would not campaign for her in their constituencies.
Naivasha MP Jayne Kihara, who spoke to Kenyans.co.ke, voiced her concerns over the state of the party primaries, pointing an accusing finger at Kihika for supporting her opponent, John Kihagi.
In what appears to be a political storm in Deputy President William Ruto's led party, Kihara voiced her reluctance to campaign for Kihika but indicated that she would vote for her on the basis that they belong to the same party.
"I am in UDA, I may not campaign for her but I will vote for her. You know, Susan Kihika had a presence of her candidate who happens to be Kihagi and because they said I won with one vote, they want to justify those claims," she noted.
Kihara further noted that their political ties had been severed by the Senator's alleged interference and she couldn't determine their state of relationship at the moment.
"I don't know how she is going to behave from now. I don't know whether she is going to help him (Kihika) move to independent candidature but what I can tell you is that Kihagi was her preferred candidate," she claimed.
Efforts by Kenyans.co.ke to reach Kihika for a comment were futile as calls went unanswered.
There has been speculation that Kihika's differences with other local leaders might interfere with her bid to dislodge the incumbent governor.
This comes as DP Ruto had met with Nakuru-based aspirants at his Karen residence on Wednesday, April 20 in a bid to resolve the differences.
Those who attended the meeting include Senatorial aspirant Tabitha Keroche Karanja, Woman Representative aspirant Chelule Chepkorir, Bahati Member of Parliament Kimani Ngunjiri among others.
Conspicuously absent were Kihika and Kihara with the latter indicating that she had not been invited for the meeting.
"The reconciliation efforts did bear fruits between the aspirants for the senatorial and women Rep position and today we paid a courtesy call at Karen, the residence of the Deputy President. UDA is a unifying powerhouse where everyone is accommodated for the benefit of Wanjiku," Ngunjiri noted in a statement following the meeting.
