President Uhuru Kenyatta, Kalonzo Musyoka and Raila Odinga political outfit Azimio –One Kenya Alliance is facing major headache in handling Nairobi county politics.
The trouble is how to navigate the governor, senate and woman rep seats. Already, William Ruto Kenya Kwanza has picked Senator Johnson Koskei Sakaja for governor position with Bishop Margaret Winjiru for senate.
Those eyeing Azimio ticket are Westlands MP Tim Wanyonyi, Nairobi governor Anne Kananu, businesswoman Ann Kagure and Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Richard Ngatia. Wiper party has thrown its weight behind Ngatia for Nairobi’s top seat with Kalonzo lobbying to have a Kamba, Philip Kaloki as Ngatia’s deputy.
Last week, Ngatia attended a Wiper NDC where direct tickets were dished with Kaloki given the Wiper ticket for Nairobi governor after which Kaloki announced that he would be Ngatia’s running mate. Earlier, Kaloki held a meeting with Ngatia and Kaloki to strategise and discuss the best way forward for the Nairobi gubernatorial race.
Ngatia and Kaloki were in Kangemi on Sunday, April 10 campaigning for his bid. Within Jubilee, a proposal to hand former Nairobi deputy governor Polycarp Igathe a direct ticket to contest the gubernatorial seat under Azimio la Umoja Kenya Coalition has caused ripples.
Those pushing for Igathe to get the ticket with ODM’s Westlands MP Tim Wanyonyi as his running mate include members of the influential Mt Kenya Foundation. But a section in Jubilee is opposed to Igathe getting the ticket, arguing he cannot win the governor’s race.
This group opines that Igathe-Wanyonyi ticket cannot beat the Kenya Kwanza Alliance that is fielding Sakaja. But the tycoons who include former Equity Bank chairman Stanley Munga, Equity Bank chief executive James Mwangi, Mama Ngina’s brother, George Muhoho and Mt Kenya Foundation vice chair Titus Ibui are dangling a carrot that they will fund Igathe-Wanyonyi campaigns in Nairobi as well as give Raila a big financial boost if he backs the former deputy governor.
It is the tycoons who pushed Igathe to resign from Equity Bank and present his application to contest for the governor’s seat to Jubilee Party headquarters by close of deadline, March 22, which he did. But the proposal to field Igathe has also divided Jubilee Party leaders down the middle with a section opposed to his nomination, arguing he let down Uhuru Kenyatta after the head of state picked him to be the running mate of Sonko only for him to abruptly resign. They say Igathe has joined the race when it is too late as other candidates have been around for years.
The president had hoped Igathe would use his managerial experience to bring order and sanity in Nairobi but was disappointed after the deputy governor abruptly resigned without consulting him, claiming he was being undermined by Sonko.
His resignation saw the capital city go for about two years without a deputy, a scenario that gave Sonko a free hand to loot and mismanage county resources. Some Jubilee leaders fear that if Igathe is nominated and wins the governorship, he can repeat the mistake of resigning if under pressure, thereby throwing the capital city to the dogs for the second time.
This group also avers that Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry president, Ngatia, has won the support of majority of voters in Nairobi and is the right candidate to beat Sakaja. They aver that Ngatia, a Kikuyu, will be backed by the voters from the community who number about one million and also get support from the other communities.
The group opines that Ngatia will easily trounce Sakaja given that the latter is a Kalenjin, and Kikuyus will vote for their own in Nairobi race even as they vote for deputy president William Ruto as president, which gives Ngatia an added advantage.
Also a plus for Ngatia is that he has picked Kaloki, a Kamba, as running mate. Kaloki has got the endorsement of Kalonzo to shift political base from Makueni to Nairobi.
There are about 600,000 Kamba registered voters, which give Ngatia-Kaloki ticket a huge boost. The group adds that the Ngatia-Kaloki ticket will defeat Sakaja-Karen Nyamu ticket early in the morning, but Igathe-Wanyonyi ticket will struggle hard to get support from voters. There are also reports Wanyonyi has declined to be Igathe’s running mate. For Igathe, he was propelled to city politics by businessman Chris Kirubi who is credited with mentoring him.
It was Kirubi who designed the Sonko-Igathe ticket in 2017 general election which culminated in their election to serve as governor and deputy governor, respectively. But the political marriage broke down following the resignation of Igathe, citing differences with Sonko. Sources revealed that top Jubilee leaders are also wary of Igathe’s candidature given his habit of abandoning the ship at the most critical hour.
Senior Jubilee officials were quoted in a section of the press stating talks are still ongoing before Igathe is officially unveiled as the Azimio la Umoja candidate. But other Azimio la Umoja supporters have also cautioned Raila against falling prey to machinations by self-centred business moguls to pick Igathe as the city candidate.
They noted that Igathe has no grassroots touch, adding that Jubilee Party won the 2017 Nairobi governor’s race due to Sonko’s influence at the grassroots and not the cowardly Igathe who was the running mate. They added that Igathe if given a direct ticket will be branded as a state project by United Democratic Alliance, a move that might see Azimio la Umoja lose the crucial seat.
Insiders added that Uhuru has also received intelligence reports casting doubts on the electability of Igathe in Nairobi. The reports rank Ngatia as leading in the race, followed by Kagure and Kananu while Igathe is a distant fourth.
They further state the candidate who will win must have the support of the Kikuyu, Luo, Luhya, Kamba and Kisii communities. The reports further recommend the governor’s seat goes to a Kikuyu, senate to a Luhya and woman representative goes to a Kisii.
From the reports, Ngatia is the favourite among Kikuyus, ODM Secretary General Edwin Sifuna the best from Luhya and Beatrice Kwamboka the best from Kisii for woman representative seat.
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