Prepare for humiliating defeat in the Malindi poll, Raila warns Jubilee

Cord leader Raila Odinga on Tuesday told President Uhuru Kenyatta and the Jubilee Coalition to brace for a humiliating defeat in the Malindi by-election to be held on March 7, as his party unveiled its candidate.

Addressing a gathering outside the Milimani Law Courts after Tuesday's ruling in which the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) declined to delete the name of Bungoma Senator Moses Wetang’ula from the voters’ register, Mr Odinga said that Mr Kenyatta’s campaigns in Malindi would not yield any fruits.

“Wacha Uhuru akae Malindi hata mwaka mmoja, sisi tutaenda Malindi siku moja kukomboa Malindi (Let Uhuru camp in Malindi for a whole year. It will take us just one day to reclaim Malindi),” said Mr Odinga.

He spoke a day after the President asked voters in Malindi to support Mr Philip Charo, who was on Monday unveiled as the Jubilee candidate. Some Cord legislators, including Coast Parliamentary Group Chairman Gideon Mung’aro, endorsed Mr Charo and said they would campaign for him.

The Malindi seat fell vacant after the President appointed Mr Dan Kazungu as the Cabinet secretary for Mining. Before his appointment, Mr Kazungu was a Cord MP.

Mr Odinga, who was flanked by Mr Wetang’ula and Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka, said that Malindi remains a Cord zone and that no amount of campaigning by Mr Kenyatta would sway voters there to support Jubilee.

ODM CANDIDATE

Mr Odinga spoke as his Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) unveiled its candidate for the March 7 by-election.

The party said that Mr Willy Baraka Mtengo beat nine aspirants to clinch the ticket.

Mr Mtengo was unveiled by the party’s Elections Board chairperson, Ms Judith Pareno, at a press conference in Nairobi.

“We had a total of 10 candidates who applied and went through a successful process of vetting by the board. We would like to report here that the nomination exercise was democratic and successful,” she said.

Mr Mtengo will now face off with Mr Charo and candidates from other parties.

Meanwhile, ODM officials Tuesday asked the President to stop playing politics while performing State functions in Cord-affiliated counties.

ODM Political Affairs Secretary Opiyo Wandayi told the Nation in a telephone interview that the party was concerned about President Kenyatta’s political activities in Coast, Western, lower Eastern and Nyanza regions.

President Kenyatta has been camping at the Coast since December where he has issued thousands of title deeds, launched infrastructure projects and pledged to revive the region’s economy.

Mr Kenyatta is yet to conclude the tour in which he has initiated development projects, notably the Mwangaza Mtaani street lighting project spearheaded by Kenya Power.

Kilifi Governor Amason Kingi and his Mombasa counterpart Hassan Joho have played down Mr Kenyatta’s visit to the two counties, saying they were more political than official.

Mr Kingi on Monday disassociated himself with the President’s tour of Kilifi, saying Mr Kenyatta was not engaged in State functions but campaigns for the Malindi parliamentary seat.

Additional reporting by Moses Odhiambo.