Nairobi — Nairobi Azimio supporters now believe that Kenya Chambers of Commerce and Industry President Richard Ngatia was better placed to face off with Governor-elect Johson Sakaja of United Democratic Alliance (UDA).
Blame games among Azimio supporters in Nairobi have started with the majority opining that the choice of Polycarp Igathe as the Azimio La Umoja One Kenya coalition candidate for Nairobi was ill-informed by the Jubilee party’s top leadership.
Both drawn from ODM and Jubilee, the supporters now claim that Igathe was more of a project which was destined to fail on the ballot.
Led by Edwin Ochieng from the ODM Lang’ata branch, the supporters said that majority of Raila Odinga supporters deliberately voted for Johnson Sakaja because they found Igathe unpopular.
They are now blaming the Jubilee party’s top leadership for misleading Raila, who has mastered the politics of Nairobi for a long time.
“Jubilee party messed up Raila over Nairobi Azimio candidate because even if it was a must that the candidate must be of Mount Kenya origin, then the right choice was Ngatia,” he said.
Before being told to step down for Igathe and Professor Philip Kaloki as the running mate, Ngatia was deemed the preferred candidate among Azimio supporters, with Westlands MP Tim Wanyonyi coming second in preference.
The two were attracting huge crowds in their campaigns, with Ngatia having won the hearts of most Kikuyu, Luo, and Luhya supporters in the city.
Three months to the election, Ngatia had warned about the choice of Igathe, whom he described as new to Nairobi politics.
“Nairobi doesn’t need someone unpopular, because if we bring someone on board not known, then be assured we won’t get this seat as Azimio, it will be a disaster not only for the Governor Position but also for the presidency, “Ngatia predicted.
Ngatia had promised to mobilize the business community in Nairobi and the Kikuyu community at large and bring over nine hundred thousand votes to Raila Odinga, including votes from Muranga and Kiambu counties registered in Nairobi.
In the just concluded elections, Igathe was defeated by Sakaja with over one hundred and fifty thousand votes.
The choice of Igathe is also linked to the low voter turnout in Nairobi, where Raila Odinga got less than 800,000 voters against the target of 1.5 million.