Peter Salasya: From 200 votes in 2017 to Mumias MP

Mumias East MP-elect Peter Salaysa's favourite scripture is 1 Peter 2:4; "You are coming to Christ, who is the living cornerstone of God's temple. He was rejected by people, but he was chosen by God for great honour."

He faced a monumental rejection in the 2017 elections when he garnered about 200 in his first attempt to become MP but emerged victorious in the just concluded polls.

The 31-year-old former student leader at Egerton University garnered 12,140 votes against his closest competitor David Wamatsi of ANC who got 9,043 votes.

Salasya had been dismissed as a 'mad man' by his competitors and their supporters when he declared interest in the MP seat.

It did not help that he was broke, unmarried and had no befitting clothes and house but that did not dampen his spirit.

"I was told that one would need between Sh20 to Sh30 million to mount a serious campaign. There was no way I could raise that amount just like I could not buy the talk of stepping out of the race for lack of money. I bought some paint and with the help of volunteers painted virtually all stones in the constituency with my name," says Salasya.

The prayerful Salasya said he had the conviction that "I was chosen by God" and prayed that Mumias East constituents would accept his candidature.

Financial difficulties made him abandon ODM in the last election as he felt that the party favoured his opponents, and he jumped ship.

"There was some form of unfairness and favouritism in the party. So I decamped to DAP-K because it was a new outfit with space for new members, luckily I was given the ticket to vie. I was happy and sad at the same time because I had the ticket but I did not have resources," says Salasya.

"I resorted to painting my name and new party on the rocks. Some of the youth volunteered to erase the ODM labels and replace them with DAP-K, my new political vehicle."

Seeing that the polls were nearing yet he had no money to host political rallies, he took to hiring boda bodas to preach his agenda at funerals and political events organized by Azimio-affiliated parties where he got free crowds.

His message, tailored on reviving Mumias Sugar, raising the education levels in the constituency, empowering youth and women and ridding the CDF kitty of graft, somehow resonated with the voters and saw his support surge, bringing more favour.

"Boda riders across the constituency offered to carry me to funerals for free and alert me of all sorts of free crowds to address. This helped my candidacy and my moneyed opponents started feeling the heat because my name was growing big by the day. A few months to the polls, Defense CS Wamalwa offered me a vehicle to assist me to move around," he said.

Initially shrugged off as 'a walkover', opponents started realising he was a threat and launched an onslaught based on his unmarried status and no house.

"When the propaganda was building, locals raised some funds and built me a house," he says. "Nonetheless, I was not lucky to get a wife but that did not deter the love of the people."