With just eight days left to the Kibra MP by-election, interested parties are now engaged in last minute efforts to win over the better part of the 118,658 votes expected to be cast in the constituency.
ODM leader Raila Odinga, whose focus now seems fully on the mini-poll, on Tuesday, met area representatives from the Kikuyu community.
Although thought to be predominantly occupied by residents of Luo origin, Kibra has over the years seen an upsurge of ethnic diversity in terms of population.
The Luhya and Kikuyu communities have become an essential part of “Raila’s bedroom”, and his efforts to woo them are a clear indication of the vital role they play in Kenyan politics.
The Luhya Community has, especially, been the subject of conversation around major polls in the country, and is considered one of the most neutral, yet crucial, part of the electorate.
In early October, Deputy President William Ruto made a public appeal to Luhya leaders to help Jubilee Party earn the loyalty of the Luhyas in the area.
“I have wanted to meet Mudavadi and Wetang’ula to agree to work together especially in supporting one of their own (Mariga) in the Kibra by-election. This should be the beginning of a unified Luhya community,” Ruto said during the requiem mass for former Kakamega Senator Boni Khalwale’s wife.
The Kikuyu community, on the other hand, is often associated with the Jubilee Party although dynamics have shifted since the handshake between President Uhuru Kenyatta and Odinga.
“They (the Kikuyu Community) expressed their confidence in and support for Bernard Okoth Imran in the upcoming by-election on 7th November,” Odinga tweeted on Tuesday.
The political friendship between the two is expected to heavily impact the 2022 General Election, both in terms of outcome and reaction.
Through the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI), Uhuru and Raila hope to implement solutions to various political problems in the country, including violent elections.