As the clock ticks towards the 2022 General Election, Kivumbi.co.ke has identified eight key areas that will decide who will be Kenya’s fifth president.
According to figures released by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), a total of 21.1million Kenyans are expected to participate in the 2022 voting process as the country seeks the 5th president.
This was after 1.5 million new voters were listed in the recently concluded one-month process by IEBC.
IEBC Chair Wafula Chebukati said Nairobi, Nakuru, Kiambu, Kakamega, and Kisii are the counties that recorded the highest number of new voters, while Lamu, Isiolo, Samburu, Laikipia, and Tana River recorded the least number of new voters.
According to the IEBC register, William Ruto’s turf of Rift Valley has a total of 4.3 million registered voters.
President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Mt Kenya region however has 4.6 million registered votes bringing the total to 8.9 million voters in Rift Valley and Mt Kenya region.
Analysts say it is likely that Deputy President William Ruto will beat his main rival Raila Odinga if he wins 90 percent of the vote in those two regions.
Presidential front runners Wiliam Ruto and Raila Odinga have in the recent past pitched tents in the huge voting bloc of Mt Kenya as they seek support from the region that will for the first time not be fielding a serious presidential candidate.
While Murang’a Governor Mwangi Wa Iria and Speaker of the National Assembly Justin Muturi have said they will be on the ballot for the top seat in 2022, it is reported that the mountain is split between Kieleweke (Those supporting President Uhuru and his handshake partner Raila Odinga) and Tanga Tanga (those supporting William Ruto).
The northeastern region has a total of 820,000 voters while the western part of the country has a total of 2.45 million registered voters.
Odinga who is expected to officially announce his bid on December 9, 2021, will have to get at least 90 percent of total votes cast in his Nyanza region, 70 percent in the Ukambani and Nairobi regions.
Odinga is also expected to get a majority of the votes in both North Eastern and the Rift Valley regions.
In 2013 and 2017, the then NASA flag bearer Raila Odinga defeated President Uhuru Kenyatta in Nairobi and the Coast regions.
But should One Kenya Alliance principal Musalia Mudavadi vie for the 2022 presidential election, then the former Prime Minister Raila Odinga will be the most affected as the two will have to share the votes of the Western region.
