What is Kait Sait?
Kait Sait is a call for all of us to be courageous enough to do something about the things we care about.
Votes won in the 2023 by-election
Months from unknown to contender
Place finished, first time on a ballot
Principles we stand for
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”
Theodore Roosevelt, 26th President of the United States
The message of this famous speech given by Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th president of the United States, inspired the birth of Kait Sait.
For many years, Tim Kipchumba harboured the desire to join political office. This desire was driven by what Tim had seen as the ability of people in power to make a positive change in the lives of their people. The opportunity presented itself in October 2022, when the senatorial seat of his home county, Elgeyo Marakwet, fell vacant. The then Senator Kipchumba Murkomen resigned on 26 October to take up a cabinet appointment, and Speaker Amason Kingi formally declared the seat vacant two days later.
Tim felt that this was a sign: the time had come to make his desire a reality.
That is the reason he chose “Kait Sait”, a Marakwet phrase for “it is time”, as his campaign slogan. Over the course of four months, Tim rose from a virtual unknown with no political experience to a serious contender for the seat. People all over the county could be seen pointing to their wrists, the symbol of Kait Sait.
His simple message: it was time to do away with the old way of doing politics, and to give a chance to someone who actually cared.
Tim came in second in the 2023 by-election, garnering an impressive 38,151 votes. What he learnt from the campaign stayed with him and is the reason for the continuing existence of Kait Sait.
