Elected Members of Parliament (MPs) from Bungoma County have endorsed Westlands MP Tim Wanyonyi to run for the county’s gubernatorial seat in 2027.

Addressing the media in the local dialect on Wednesday, July 2, 2025, Sirisia MP John Waluke, who serves as the leader of the Western MPs caucus, said that all nine elected MPs from Bungoma, apart from Kimilili MP Didmus Barasa, had met and agreed to throw their weight behind Wanyonyi.

According to Waluke, Barasa skipped the meeting because he also has an interest in the Bungoma gubernatorial seat, but the remaining eight MPs had decided to involve all the elected and nominated Members of County Assembly (MCAs) in the plot to have Wanyonyi succeed Governor Kenneth Lusaka.

“As Bungoma people, we, the Members of Parliament who were elected from the county, have met to decide on the development of Bungoma County. All nine of us, except Didmus Wekesa Barasa, who has an interest in the Bungoma gubernatorial seat, have decided that Bungoma will not fall as we watch. We have decided that we will call all the MCAs on Thursday next week and meet them at the home of Tim Wanyonyi. All the 45 elected MCAs and all the nominated ones will meet to decide on the future of Bungoma. Bungoma will not get destroyed as the MCAs and elected MPs watch,” Waluke said.

The Wednesday meeting was attended by Waluke, Jack Wamboka (Bumula), John Makali (Kanduyi), Dan Wanyama (Webuye West), Martin Wanyonyi Pepela alias Investor (Webuye East), Fred Kapondi (Mt Elgon), Majimbo Kalasinga (Kabuchai), and John Chikati (Tongaren).

Meeting at Wanyonyi’s home

The United Democratic Alliance (UDA) lawmaker went ahead to note that they would meet at Wanyonyi’s Bungoma home on Thursday, July 10, 2025, to deliberate on the way forward.

The Thursday meeting, Waluke said, will start at exactly 10:00 am, and MPs and MCAs have been urged to arrive by 9:30 am.

Redeeming Bungoma

He argued that Bungoma has suffered for long and that it is only Wanyonyi who would return the county to its lost glory.

“We will meet at 10:00 am at Wanyonyi’s Bungoma home. We are bringing in Tim Wanyonyi as the new incoming governor for Bungoma County. We are confident that he will restore Bungoma’s lost glory. I urge all the MCAs, about 60 of them, to turn up at Tim Wanyonyi’s home at exactly 9:30 am. Elected MPs from Bungoma should also turn up at the same time,” he said.

“All the Bungoma elected leaders from Tongaren, Sirisia, Kimilili, Bumula, Webuye East, Webuye West, Mt Elgon, and Kanduyi, let us meet at Tim Wanyonyi’s home. Our people have suffered for long. Our youths have no jobs, yet we get a lot of revenue allocation running into billions, yet no development project can be singled out. There are no roads; there is no water. We will meet to decide the fate of Bungoma.”

Wanyonyi is, however, considered one of the front-runners for the Nairobi County gubernatorial race.