Lobbying and political strategizing is intensifying as the quest to succeed Kiprono Kittony as chairman of the Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry takes centre stage.
Kittony is ineligible for reelection having served two terms of three years each.
County elections have been concluded and uncertainty surrounds the date of the national exercise, which was scheduled for this month.
Three candidates are gunning for the national chairman’s seat – James Mureu, Richard Ngatia and Abdulwali Shariff.
Mureu has been Kittony’s deputy, while Ngatia is the outgoing Nairobi County chairman.
A total of 11 delegates from each of the 47 counties are eligible to vote to determine who leads the organisation for the next three years.
Kurunzi understands, there are integrity issues raised on one of the contenders for chairman.
A scheduled press conference to call out the aspirant was called off, with sources suggesting “the meeting was called off to allow for further consultations”.
The polls were due this month but the start of the fasting month for Muslims has led to suggestions that the exercise be postponed until after Ramadhan.
A section of the members had called the media for a briefing in Nairobi on Monday, suggesting the same would highlight the integrity issues surrounding one candidate but they “felt it was strategic to hold until a decision on the elections date is made”.
“It has been decided that until the date is agree on it would not make sense to raise these issues at this point,” a member told Kurunzi on condition of anonymity.
Other than the chairmanship, there are 16 other positions to contested at the polls.
