Former  Cooperatives and SMEs Cabinet Secretary Simon Chelugui has announced that he will vie for the Baringo gubernatorial seat in 2027.

The former CS, while speaking during an interview on a local TV station on Monday, October 6, 2025, said that he had previously contested for the same position twice but lost.

Also Watch: Government has used complicated mechanisms to weed out cartels eating farmers’ sweat.” CS Chelugui.

He stated that his ambitions are still alive and that he will be going for the county boss position.

“I will run for the position of governor in Baringo in 2027,” Chelugui stated.

Chelugui served in several ministries during former President Uhuru Kenyatta’s regime, including the Ministry of Water, Labour, and Social Protection, among others.

He was later retained by President William Ruto after assuming office in 2022, where he was appointed to head the Cooperatives and SMEs docket a position he lost after being fired during the Gen Z protests that gave room for a broad-based government.

He was the CS who oversaw the implementation of the Hustler Fund together with his Principal Secretary Sarah Mang’eni.

During the same interview, Chelugui stated that he is not bitter with President William Ruto for firing him, saying that a time came when the love for the nation was bigger than his personal ambitions.

He added that he was forced to sacrifice his position, which he had held for two years, to give room for the formation of a broad-based government.

Baringo senatorial race

On the Baringo senatorial race, he has thrown his weight behind the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) candidate Vincent Chemitei Kiprono, who is contesting against KANU’s candidate Gideon Moi in the November 27 by-elections.

He said that he will be out to campaign for his party’s candidate to ensure that he wins against Gideon Moi.

“As a ranking and founding member of UDA, we have now made a choice. We have a candidate in the name of Vincent Chemitei, and the other party’s candidate, Gideon Moi of KANU. All these candidates are sons of Baringo, but we have made our choice, and we have presented our candidate. We shall be duly bound to campaign for him to succeed,” Chelugui stated.