West Pokot gubernatorial candidate, Dr. Nicholas Owon Atudonyang, returned to Kenya days to the August 9 General Election after missing in action for two months.
Dr. Atudonyang went missing after he received certificate of clearance from the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to run for governor on June 3.
He jetted back into the on Saturday, August 6, the very day IEBC announced the end of campaigns in the country. The trained neurosurgeon is based in the United States and has been running his duties as DG remotely, with the approval of governor John Lonyangapuo.
Earlier reports indicated that Dr Atudonyang first jetted back into the country in March this year after staying in the US for four years. This was hardly a year after he got elected on a Jubilee ticket in the 2017 general election.
The medic who is running on a KANU ticket seeks to unseat his boss Prof. Lonyangapuo who is vying on a Kenya United Party (KUP).
The Ethics and Anti- Corruption Commission (EACC) had put Prof. Lonyangapuo to task to explain his deputy's absence and why he chose him despite having a full-time salaried job in a foreign country.
Prof. Lonyangapuo in his defense, stated that the deputy was able to work remotely and that his most notable achievement was increasing funds to the Constituency Development Fund (CDF).
Despite missing in action, the DG took a swipe at his boss, faulting him for not uniting the residents during his tenure as the county's chief executive officer.
Dr. Atudonyang noted that the county is in the wrong hands, and cited poor health services, and corruption as among the issues that voters should vote out the incumbent governor.
“I am asking you to vote for KANU leaders from MCA to governor. We should stand against bad leadership.
"The governor saw it fit to isolate the people of West Pokot from the rest of Kenya by forming a small tribal party, but the people of West Pokot seem to be smarter than the governor himself,” he noted.
The medic will square it out with his boss, a professor of applied mathematics in the August polls. The two scholars will be seeking the electorates' favour on the Azimio la Umoja ticket.
