Azimio ‘friendly fire’ risks sabotaging aspirants’ bids

Divisions in President Kenyatta and ODM leader Raila Odinga’s Azimio la Umoja Movement in Nairobi are threatening to derail aspirants’ chances of clinching seats in the August 9 General Election.

The wrangling is happening as the Kenya Kwanza Alliance is looking to capitalise on the split in Azimio to win.

The gubernatorial, Senate and Woman Representative contests in Azimio have attracted several aspirants, all insisting they’ll be on the ballot, and the Kenya Kwanza alliance is looking to exploit these divisions.

The alliance groups Deputy President William Ruto’s United Democratic Alliance, Amani National Congress of Musalia Mudavadi and Ford Kenya of Moses Wetang’ula.

While Azimio faces a headache picking from among four formidable gubernatorial aspirants in Governor Ann Kananu, Westlands MP Tim Wanyonyi, Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Richard Ngatia and businesswoman Agnes Kagure, Kenya Kwanza has no such problems as it only has Nairobi Senator Johnson Sakaja and former Starehe MP Margaret Wanjiru in its line-up.

Two strong aspirants

In the Senate race, Azimio again has two strong aspirants in Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) Secretary-General Edwin Sifuna and nominated MP Maina Kamanda.  To win the ticket, Mr Sifuna must ward off strong competition from Mr Kamanda.

A similar headache is also in the Woman Representative contest, with the incumbent, Ms Esther Passaris fighting it out with former Kasarani MP Elizabeth Ongoro, Nominated Senator Beatrice Kwamboka and Ms Wangui Ng’ang’a for the  Azimio ticket.

Kenya Kwanza will be capitalise on this sibling rivalry to pull the rug out from under Azimio’s feet, seeking to mirror Jubilee’s achievement against ODM in Lang’ata Constituency in 2017.

Mr Sakaja said they’re closely watching the happenings in the Azimio camp and are in talks with aspirants who feel taken for granted. Kenya Kwanza is determined to win most seats in Nairobi, he added.

“When your opponent is making mistakes, you don’t interrupt them but let them sink deeper. We’re talking to aspirants from the other team and people should brace themselves for a big surprise,” Mr Sakaja said.

Amicable process

Unlike in Azimio, he said, Kenya Kwanza has an amicable process for selecting their flag-bearers.

“I’m determined to be Nairobi governor and I’m targeting 1.5 million votes. Last time I got 840,000 with no running mate but now I’m looking to add 600,000 because of the running mate factor,” he said.

In 2017, inter-party rivalry in the National Super Alliance (Nasa) coalition saw ODM lose the Lang’ata parliamentary seat when newcomer Nixon Korir of Jubilee pulled off a surprise and beat ODM’s Oscar Omoke by less than 2,000 votes.

Each of Nasa’s five-member parties had fielded a candidate, splitting their votes. A similar scenario is unfolding, with two camps dead set against each other.

One is coalescing around Mr Wanyonyi and the other around Mr Ngatia, with the former team comprising Mr Sifuna, former Dagoretti South MP Dennis Waweru, Ms Passaris and Ms Ng’ang’a.

Can’t be wished away

Mr Ngatia’s camp has Mr Kamanda, Makadara MP George Aladwa, and Ms Kwamboka.

Although Governor Kananu and Ms Kagure are not seen as favourites, they command some following, and can’t just be wished away.

The sharp divisions in Azimio have escalated, with each camp throwing mud at the other. But Mr Sifuna says the wrangling in Azimio won’t hurt the alliance, terming it “healthy for democracy”.

“In any event, all friendly fire will cease once the coalition’s candidates are known and we shall all unite and campaign together.”

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