Dagoreti North MP Beatrice Elachi has opened up about the reasons behind Raila Odinga’s defeat in the 2022 General Election.
In the elections held on Tuesday, August 9, the ODM leader emerged second after polling 6.9 million just 200k votes behind the now-president William Ruto who garnered 7.1 million votes.
Elachi, who was elected on the ODM party ticket believes Raila’s association with then-president Uhuru Kenyatta might have cost his party leader the State House job.
Speaking candidly to journalist Enock Sikolia in a YouTube interview, Elachi said that the 2022 presidential election was for Baba to win but his close associations with Uhuru cost him.
“Indeed 2022 election was for Baba to win. But I think and this is my opinion, the best we would have done would have let Baba remain as an opposition leader at that time,” she said.
Delving into the regional dynamics that played a role in Raila’s loss, the lawmaker highlighted the historical voting pattern of the vote-rich Mt Kenya region which was perceived to be Uhuru Kenyatta’s stronghold.
She said the Mt Kenya region had traditionally not supported presidential candidates from the Nyanza region and this pattern held true in the hotly contested 2022 General Election.
The former Nairobi County Assembly Speaker further revealed that she warned the Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Coalition leader not to accept Uhuru Kenyatta’s support but to remain in the opposition.
“I once advised Raila to decline Uhuru support,” she added.
Last week, Elachi sensationally claimed that some of the leaders in the Azimio la Umoja camp were not serious about helping Raila to succeed the now-retired President Uhuru Kenyatta.
“Baba knows that sometimes we just play on him, many times we are not serious about him being president, we just use him for us to get our positions and after that, we are done,” she said.
