Voi: Khamisi Chome wins MP seat 25 years after joining politics

The story of Khamisi Abdi Chome is a true depiction of the saying that patience pays, and true to its course resilience and guts can be seen from the 60-year-old father of five and newly-elected Voi Member of Parliament.

Chome clinched the parliamentary seat in the August 9 polls after a 25-year political journey that was at first built on a hopeless dream.

The newly elected MP, who resides in Kariokor village at the outskirts of Voi town took Citizen Digital through his political journey marred by loss in the past 4 election cycles.

The polished civil and water engineer-cum-businessman made his first attempt to be MP in 1997 on a KANU party ticket.

He narrowly lost, and that became a norm in the next 3 general elections. In 2002, he made a second attempt on a NARC ticket, followed by another attempt in 2007 on an ODM ticket and a TNA ticket in 2013.

The soft-spoken politician took a break from politics after the failing to clinch MP seat in the 2013 General Election and after the death of his wife, he did not contest in the 2017 polls.

But after five year break he returned to the ballot on a Wiper ticket, defeating his close competitor and former Mp Johnes Mlolwa after garnering 9, 418 votes against Mlolwa's 8,426.

Chome’s political lifeline has been sustained by his passion to lead and offer fresh leadership in the region, promising to consolidate all communities in the constituency.