Veteran politician Raila Odinga unsuccessfully vied for the presidency for a record fifth time in the 2022 General Election.
According to IEBC, Raila emerged second after garnering 6.9 million just 200,000 votes behind the now-President William Ruto who scooped 7.1 million votes.
This was despite the fact that the former Prime Minister had the backing of the then outgoing Head of State Uhuru Kenyatta, the alleged “Deep State” and the “System”.
And now more than a year since he lost the presidency, analysts and leaders still continue to raise mixed feelings as to why Raila lost the presidency to a young William Ruto.
For instance, on Wednesday, August 16, former Mukurweini Member of Parliament Kabando wa Kabando sensationally claimed that Raila lost the presidency due to the “curse of cronyism”.
The politician in his own view argued that the Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Coalition Party leader has over time antagonized his own Luo community, a move he said has over decades cost him the presidency.
Kabando while giving examples said the ODM leader has had the tendency of appointing his friends and close associates to positions of authority, without proper regard to their qualifications.
“Part of the reason why Raila is not president today and I dare say this on TV is that he antagonizes his own community, the Luo,” he said.
Kabando accused Raila of issuing certificates and nomination slots to his family members leaving out qualified people from his backyard.
“How selfless are we even as we are gallant crusaders of democratic struggle in Kenya when we get an opportunity we go for our brothers, sisters sons, and daughters and leaving out the local community?” Kabando asked.
This he said saw the Luo community drift away from the opposition leader and has been the reason for the low voter turnout in his stronghold of Nyanza region.
“The turnout among the Luo in the 2022 election was despicable. The difference between Raila and Ruto was 200k votes. The problem that we have in Kenya is cronyism,” Kabando Wa Kabando added.
