Nasa takes vote hunt to Jubilee-leaning zones

The National Super Alliance is now taking the battle for votes to Jubilee zones in a bid to attract more support in the rival’s backyard following closure of the mass voter registration on Sunday.

ODM chairman John Mbadi said they will be boosting confidence among their supporters and at the same time raiding Jubilee zones for support.

Mr Mbadi said their strategy of converting potential voters into Nasa supporters will be based on selling the idea that Jubilee has failed in delivering in its promises.

ODM leader Raila Odinga will be heading to Meru, Embu and Tharaka-Nithi on Monday and Tuesday, together with other coalition leaders Moses Wetang'ula (Ford-Kenya) Musalia Mudavadi (Amani National Congress) and Kalonzo Musyoka (Wiper).

KEY BATTLE GROUNDS

“We will also be concentrating on Baringo, South Rift and Elgeyo-Marakwet, which are faced by insecurity challenges that Jubilee has failed to deal with,” he said.

Mr Odinga was in Turkana for the better part of last week, while Mr Wetang'ula and Mr Musyoka were in Embu to drum up support for the new outfit.

Some of the battlegrounds the opposition will be seeking to get more votes from include Nairobi, Kajiado, Narok, and Samburu.

With the numbers not pleasing enough as expected by the opposition, their attention now shifts to Jubilee areas such as the Rift Valley, Central and some parts of Eastern regions.

Of the 6.1 million new voters the electoral agency targeted, its figures as of February 21 showed that it had registered 3,782,089 million, with Nairobi leading at 461,346 followed by Kiambu.

UNDECIDED VOTERS

“We are planning to get to the battleground areas and turn them into our zones. There is currently a wave in the country, with many tired of the lies and incompetency of the Jubilee government and this is why we believe Kenyans are ripe for Nasa,” said Mr Mbadi.

A recent Ipsos opinion poll indicated that 49 per cent of respondents wanted Mr Odinga to contest the presidency as the Nasa candidate and another 41 per cent were confident he is better placed to tackle corruption.

The polls gave President Uhuru Kenyatta a 17 percentage point lead over his closest challenger, a margin the opposition wants to reduce and further surpass before August.

Nasa also wants to convert in their favour 12 per cent of voters who are still undecided on who to support for president 166 days to the next elections.

“We are also keen on having the primaries conducted with fairness to boost confidence in the people from our strongholds and avoid voter apathy,” said Mr Mbadi.

MAKING INROADS

Kiminini MP Chris Wamalwa said he will be accompanying Mr Wetang'ula on Friday on a tour in the entire Trans Nzoia County, a region in which Deputy President William Ruto has been trying hard to make inroads, and get as many votes as possible for Jubilee.

On Saturday, the Ford-Kenya brigade will be in Mr Wetang'ula’s turf of Bungoma.

“We will be campaigning with our coalition partners in Jubilee zones. On Sunday we should be headed to Uasin Gishu County,” said Mr Wamalwa.

Senator Boni Khalwale exuded confidence that the opposition will sweep all areas perceived to be battlegrounds come August owing to the presence of opposition leaders in the areas.

Gem MP Jakoyo Midiwo, in a television interview, said the coming elections will be won on issues and that the opposition will be asking questions on what the government did in handling corruption scandals.

“We will demand answers on graft such as Eurobond and National Youth Service lost millions,” said Mr Midiwo.