ODM and Azimio owners have coerced Westlands MP Tim Wanyonyi to shelve his gubernatorial quest and deputise Polycarp Igathe in the Nairobi race.
The decision was arrived upon after Azimio -One Kenya Alliance leaders met Tat State House, Nairobi, on Thursday. The deal means that ODM will leave the governor’s seat to Jubilee and take the deputy governor position, while Wiper Party will get the Speaker of the County Assembly slot.
The move places Kalonzo man and former Kibwezi MP Phillip Kaloki at a vantage position to become the third County Assembly speaker of Nairobi if by any chance Igathe beats UDA’s Johnson Sakaja
Wanyonyi who was among the front runners was forced to drop his bid even after a section of Luhya leaders including Makadara MP George Aladwa and ODM Secretary General Edwin sifuna met to discuss the Nairobi leadership lineup for President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Azimio coalition.
Luhya leaders who not happy with the move met while Azimio principals were also meeting at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre for the first Azimio council meeting led by President Kenyatta.
Aladwa, Sifuna and the group were later summoned to State House in the evening where they were joined by Raila and Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho.
In their week demand for the Luhya community not to be looked down upon they blindly demanded the Nairobi governor and senator positions, five Cabinet secretary slots including; Road and Transport, Health, Water, Environment and Finance but gave in everything after they were influenced by Raila and Joho.
They had also demanded an upper hand in parliamentary seats in Nairobi County including; Makadara, Embakasi West, Westlands and Lang’ata.
But the decision to field Igathe, deputized by Wanyoni adds to Jubilee’s confusion where the current Nairobi Governor Ann Kananu, businesswoman Agnes Kagure and the corrupt Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Richard Ngatia have been cleared to participate in the primaries.
Ngatia who has fake degree papers admitted to consultations being made on the Jubilee candidate but denied that Igathe had been endorsed.
Igathe endorsement is a blessing to Deputy President Dr. William Ruto whose UDA party will have Nairobi Senator Johnson Sakaja flying the gubernatorial flag. The race had already shaped to be a two horse rac between Sakaja and Wanyonyi who are both hailing from the populous Western Kenya region but Igathe entry favors the Sakaja.
The senator who is serving as a first term had also served as a nominated MP between 2013 and 2017 giving him a proper grip of political field ahead of the Jubilee candidate.
Igathe is the current Chief Commercial Officer of the Equity Group Holdings Limited. He made his entry into politics in 2017, when he deputized former Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko and resigned on January 31 2018 for failing to earn the trust of the Governor.
Sakaja is expected to reap big from Wanyonyi followers who are no happy with the move to force their preferred candidate with a track record of development to back Igathe, a corporate thug who is little known in politics.
