Revealed! How Raila is Planning to Beat Ruto to Statehouse in 2022

A section of former MPs from Meru and Tharaka-Nithi counties on Tuesday revived a debate about ODM leader Raila Odinga’s candidature in the 2022 presidential race, when they assured him of their unsolicited support.

Dubbed as the “Ameru handshake forum”, the leaders praised Mr Odinga and the historic March 9 deal he made with President Uhuru Kenyatta.

“Although Raila said he will not run in 2022, this group is telling him should he decide to run, he shall have our unqualified support,” they said in a joint statement read by former Tigania West MP Kilemi Mwiria.

The 12 former MPs from the Upper Eastern counties spoke to journalists after meeting Mr Odinga at his Capitol Hill office in Nairobi.

They also asked Mr Odinga and the President to visit the region to ensure the impact of the March 9 handshake is felt throughout the counties.

“We ask leaders from Mt Kenya to stop insulting Raila Odinga during their ritualistic every-Sunday church harambees. It is an unholy misuse of God’s sanctuary,” the leaders said.

In the annulled August 8, 2017 election, Mr Odinga polled 55,602 votes out of 702,776 in Meru and 10,355 of the 213,157 votes in Tharaka-Nithi.

Mr Odinga, who in 2017 ran an unsuccessful State House race, has remained mum about his future in politics.

He has, however, insisted that even with the deal he made with the President, he will remain Opposition leader as well as the Nasa and ODM leader.

He asked the leaders to champion the Building Bridges Initiative, describing it as the country’s last chance to build a united nation.

The ODM leader, a statement from his office said, appealed to Kenyans to unite against corruption, saying the vice is responsible for many of the problems Kenyans are going through, including missed development targets and ever rising cost of living.

He promised to visit Meru and Tharaka-Nithi soon to explain the “handshake” on the invitation of the leaders.

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Dr Mwiria was accompanied by former Meru deputy governor Raphael Muriungi, former MPs Petkey Miriti (Nithi), Gideon Irea (Central Imenti), David Karithi (Tigania West) and Joseph Mwenda (Igembe South), among others.

The leaders asked unnamed leaders from Mt Kenya to back the war against corruption, saying “they had joined those from the United Republican Party to oppose these efforts”.

“The President should not be blackmailed by barons of graft. He must mercilessly crash all merchants of impunity. Mr President, cleanse Kenya. That will be your legacy. Lords of graft should not win,” Dr Mwiria said.

A Nyanza-Central Political Union in the Making?

A three-hour closed-door meeting between Opposition leader Raila Odinga and a group of former Mt Kenya legislators and businessmen in July caused jitters in the ruling Jubilee Party as pundits predict a Nyanza-Central political union ahead of the 2022 General Elections.

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While some are seeing this as an opportunity to tear down an otherwise hostile political fence, others fear opening the doors to Mr Odinga could chip away on the political might of the region, cherished and jealously guarded by voters here for decades.

Among the latter are Mathira MP Rigathi Gachagua and Kirinyaga County Jubilee Party boss Muriithi wa Kang’ara, who have read mischief in the meeting, saying Mr Odinga wants to divide the Central voting bloc. They also told a local daily that the former MPs who met with Mr Odinga were spent forces seeking relevance and a route to consequence.

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“Some of us were apprehensive after the handshake between Mr Odinga and President Uhuru Kenyatta (in March this year),” said Mr Gachagua.

“We were no sure whether or not Mr Odinga was genuine, and now he is trying to create mischief within Jubilee because we have elected leaders in Mt Kenya who should talk on behalf of the electorate. Those he met are politicians who were rejected by the people. Why is he trying to prop them up?”

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