In April, Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka maintained that Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Coalition party presidential candidate Raila Odinga was to pick him as his running mate if he wanted to emerge the victor in the August 9, presidential election.
Musyoka, who was battling it out with Narc Kenya party leader Martha Karua, Agriculture CS Peter Munya, and Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho among others, insisted that Raila would lose if he does not pick him.
“…people know that when Raila takes the Wiper team on board, he will be the next president of Kenya. But there is a problem when Raila eaves Kalonzo,” Kalonzo said.
Kalonzo was Raila’s running mate in the 2013 and 2017 presidential elections in which the ticket lost to Jubilee’s Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto.
Despite going against the 2017 agreement which required that Raila supports Kalonzo’s presidential bid in the 2022 elections, the former Lang’ata MP insisted that he was still young to retire.
While it was expected that he will instead hand him the running mate slot, Raila went ahead and picked Narc Kenya party leader Martha Karua as his 2022 presidential running mate.
This was after his arch-rival in the State House race DP William Ruto had settled on Mathira MP Rigathi Gachagua as his 2022 presidential election running mate.
Analysts said that Raila picked Karua so that he can have a lion’s share of the vote-rich Mt Kenya region which had not fielded a serious presidential candidate.
However, Kalonzo’s prophecy on Monday, August 15, came to pass after the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) declared William Ruto the fifth president of the Republic of Kenya.
According to IEBC chairman Wafula Chebukati, Ruto garnered 7,176,141 votes against Raila’s 6,942,930 votes.
A key thing that stood out in these elections was that none of the coalitions commands an absolute majority of 180 members yet with 12 nominated seats still vacant and 4 elections having been postponed.
Odinga’s Azimio la Umjoa has a majority in the National Assembly with 162 members while Ruto’s Kenya Kwanza garnered 159 members.
