You betrayed me, Mwadime fires back at party after resignation

 Taita Taveta gubernatorial aspirant Andrew Mwadime has accused the Communist Party of Kenya (CPK) of betraying him after it joined Deputy President William Ruto’s Kenya Kwanza alliance.

Mr Mwadime defended his move to resign from the party, saying he quit because it violated an agreement on associating with other political outfits.

The Mwatate MP, who is among the top contenders for the seat in the August 9 elections, has been cleared by the Registrar of Political Parties to vie as an independent candidate.

"We had agreed that the party will not get into a coalition with any alliance. The leadership had assured us that they will not support any affiliation and that is why many people joined the party,” he said. 

“We were surprised that after a week, they joined Kenya Kwanza and I felt that they had disappointed us."

Having been a member of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) for over 10 years, he said, his ideologies do not match with Kenya Kwanza's "bottom-up" economic model.

But he declined to declare whether he would still support Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Coalition Party flag-bearer Raila Odinga.

The legislator decamped from ODM to join the CPK over claims that his opponents had hatched a plot to lock him out of the race by denying him the party’s ticket.

The MP has served Mwatate constituency for two consecutive terms since 2013, when he was elected on an ODM ticket.

"This time there were no hopes in terms of me getting the ODM ticket. The party was infiltrated by spoilers so I had to leave because they had laid out a plan to lock me out of this race," he said.

Despite his last-minute move, which is seen as a setback for his bid, Mr Mwadime believes he is still among the front-runners and vowed to give his competitors a run for their money.

"Despite my decision to vie as an independent candidate, my supporters are fully behind me. I have a development track record that cannot be undermined. As an MP, I gave my best," he said.

On Tuesday, the party slammed Mr Mwadime for resigning at the last minute and thereby denying it a chance to field a candidate for governor in Taita Taveta.

CPK chairperson Mwandawiro Mghanga had faulted him for not reaching out to the leadership regarding the discontent that forced him to resign.

Speaking in Voi, Mr Mghanga also defended the party's decision to support Kenya Kwanza, saying they share the same principles of empowering citizens from the lowest level.

Others in the race to unseat Governor Granton Samboja are his predecessor John Mruttu, former senator Dan Mwazo, media consultant

Patience Nyange, community development expert Rachel Mwakazi, Prof Agnes Mwang'ombe, lawyer Onesmus Mwinzi and advocacy specialist Stephen Mwakesi.

Mr Thomas Mwakwida, George Mwandembo, Francis Mwaita, Godino Mwasaru and Faustine Mghendi are also in the governor’s contest.
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