Uhuru planning to unleash election strategy

President Uhuru Kenyatta at Jubilee Party's National Delegates Conference at Bomas of Kenya in Nairobi on May 6, 2017. PHOTO | JEFF ANGOTE | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • At the heart of the plan is the deployment of a well-oiled political campaign machinery including helicopters, the showcasing of successful development projects and the use of friendly parties and key point men to penetrate opposition zones.

    Details of the strategy emerged as President Kenyatta attended the National Delegates Conferences of five friendly parties to seek their endorsement for his re-election.

President Kenyatta plans to unleash a multi-pronged strategy to defeat his main challenger in this year's General Election, Mr Raila Odinga of the National Super Alliance.

At the heart of the strategy is the deployment of a well-oiled political campaign machinery including helicopters, the showcasing of successful development projects and the use of friendly parties and key point men to penetrate opposition zones.

Details of the strategy emerged as President Kenyatta attended the National Delegates Conferences of five friendly parties – Maendeleo Chap Chap, Narc Kenya, Kenya Patriotic Party and Economic Freedom Party – to seek their endorsement for his re-election.

Mr Kenyatta’s endorsement came only a day after the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) endorsed Mr Odinga as its flagbearer in the August 8 election, basically rubber-stamping the decision by the opposition alliance Nasa to settle on him as its presidential candidate last week.

By putting an elaborate campaign strategy, Mr Kenyatta is alive to the threat posed by the re-energised opposition.

On Friday, Mr Kenyatta met aspirants from 14 counties at State House to plan strategies of getting votes in their regions.

“With Jubilee aspirants from 14 counties, we met to map out election plans,” Mr Kenyatta stated on his Twitter account after the meeting.

“Met Jubilee aspirants from 14 counties, including Governors & MPs who defected from opposition parties to map out campaign strategy,” he said.

A MEETING

A day earlier, he posted a message on the account that he had held a meeting with the Frontier Alliance Party, one of the Jubilee friendly parties supporting his re-election.

“Frontier Alliance Party endorses President Kenyatta for August polls,” he posted.

He had on Wednesday hosted officials of the Economic Freedom Party led by Mandera senator Billow Kerrow.

In between hosting the delegations, Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ruto separately held meetings with the Jubilee Party point men from Ukambani and Western Kenya to work out strategies of penetrating the two regions perceived to be pro-Nasa zones.

Bungoma Governor Kenneth Lusaka, who led the Western Kenya team comprising MPs Emmanuel Wangwe (Navakholo), Bernard Shinali (Ikolomani), Benjamin Washiali (Mumias East), Dan Wanyama (Webuye West) and John Waluke (Sirisia), said they were ready to roll out a well oiled campaign to convert the region into a Jubilee zone.

“We have formed a strategic team to work on ways of winning over Western Kenya for Jubilee. We have established caucuses bringing on board the youth and women representatives in every sub-county who will coordinate our campaigns. We want to use town hall meetings as well as public rallies to popularise Jubilee,” said Mr Lusaka.

'THE GROUND'

“We will hit them (Nasa) both in the air and on the ground now that Western has been given non-existent positions in Nasa. We have at our disposal two choppers and hundreds of vehicles to cover the length and breadth of Western,” he said.

He said they were in the process of identifying projects which the President will come to commission between now and August, some of which are ongoing.

Machakos Town MP Victor Munyaka, one of the several Ukambani MPs allied to the Jubilee Party, also revealed that the President will concentrate on launching several projects in the region to win votes. They include the dual carriageway linking Athi River to the Machakos turn-off, the Tala-Thika by-pass, the Thwake Dam, the ongoing Kibwezi-Mutomo road and some water projects.

Sources in the Kenyatta campaign team revealed that at the heart of the strategy is an effort to keep the 2013 Mt Kenya and Kalenjin home bases intact by ensuring the highest numbers possible turn out to vote, while unleashing multi-pronged volleys in regions perceived to be Nasa strongholds mainly Western, Nyanza, Coast, Ukambani and Upper Eastern.

The first explains the intense efforts employed in both identity card registration drives in February 2015, and voter registration in 2016 and 2017.

FRIENDLY PARTIES

The second is about using the friendly parties to secure Mr Kenyatta’s votes in areas deemed hostile to Jubilee.

This strategy is behind the new friendly county based outfits now being deployed into new fronts, the Economic Freedom Party to North Eastern, the Kenya Patriots Party (KPP) of former Garsen MP Danson Mungatana, Frontiers Alliance Party of Marsabit Governor Ukur Yattani and Maendeleo Chap Chap of Machakos Governor Alfred Mutua.

Another strategy is to embrace “working arrangements” with parties such as Kanu, Narc-Kenya, Party of National Unity (PNU), the Democratic Party (DP) that field candidates at all levels but support Mr Kenyatta’s re-election. The county parties strategy helps in keeping all candidates on the Jubilee side, especially the aspirants who feared the incumbent MPs, governors and senators would manipulate the Jubilee primaries. President Kenyatta is also not sparing any efforts in reaching out himself to “hostile” regions such as Nyanza, the bedrock of Mr Odinga’s support.

Mr Kenyatta’s point men in the region said they were working on serious strategies of securing votes for Mr Kenyatta come August 8.

On April 18, President Kenyatta visited Kisumu and promised to return to the region after the party primaries.

“Let the nominations conclude, I promise to return here. Let politicians convince you by their deeds and not ask you to take stones and fight each other,” he told an enthusiastic crowd at KCB roundabout along Oginga Odinga Street then.

MAKE INROADS

The Nation has learned that the Head of State is seeking to take advantage of the displeasure orchestrated by the ODM primaries to make inroads in the region.

Jubilee nominated Senator Joy Gwendo told the Nation that the region needed a bigger share of the national cake.

“We need empowerment; we need good roads and many development projects in this region. We need to be in the government and our people must welcome this move,” said Ms Gwendo.

Kisumu County Jubilee party secretary-general Steve Biko divulged that they will field candidates in all the electoral units in the country including Nyanza. Some of the Jubilee strategies in Nyanza, Mr Biko said, will include showcasing “the large infrastructural projects financed by the national government which are quite a number.”

“We have the Mbita causeway bridge which will improve the lake ecosystem especially Winam gulf, road projects such as Ahero-Isebania that has just been commissioned and Siaya water project among others,” said Mr Biko. Jubilee activist George Ayugi said the party is seeking to take advantage of the “huge outcry” over the ODM primaries in Nyanza to reap ahead of the elections. “We have heard disgruntled ODM supporters say if their candidates whom they feel won are denied victories, then they will back President Kenyatta for a second term.”

Story by Peter Leftie, Justus Ochieng and Gakuu Mathenge.