Nairobi Senator Johnson Sakaja has said that the ANC party leader Musalia Mudavadi could be President Uhuru’s presidential candidate of choice ahead of the 2022 General Election.
In an interview with NTV on Monday, October 18, Sakaja said the Head of State could be secretly managing ODM leader Raila Odinga but his preferred successor is Musalia Mudavadi.
“Who knows what? Musalia Mudavadi could be the 2022 presidential candidate for the Jubilee party,” Sakaja said.
He said Mudavadi, one of the principals under the One Kenya Alliance (OKA) deputised Uhuru Kenyatta in 2002 but the pair lost terribly to retired President Mwai Kibaki.
Uhuru was to be Mudavadi’s running mate in the 2013 General Election but the President surprisingly pulled out of the deal and banked on former Agriculture Minister William Ruto.
Sakaja who has declared his ambitions for the Nairobi gubernatorial seat said that President Uhuru personally asked him to drum up support for Musalia Mudavadi’s 2022 presidential ambition.
He said while President Uhuru has clearly indicated that he would support Raila Odinga for the seat, Mudavadi was once his presidential candidate of choice.
Sakaja’s sentiments come at a time he is facing accusations of being a William Ruto mole in the larger Uhuru succession battle.
It is believed Sakaja alongside other politicians is being used to force Mudavadi not to work with Raila Odinga ahead of the presidential election so as to deny the ODM leader a clear first-round win.
Uhuru whose relationship with his deputy president William Ruto has been shaky appeared to indirectly endorse former Prime Minister Raila Odinga as the right man to continue with his development projects while maintaining a peaceful country.
Accompanied by Raila Odinga, the President told Kibra residents to make the right decision in the 2022 General Election.
“Haven’t we experienced peace after we come together with Raila Odinga? Haven’t we experienced development after peace? Do you want the work to go on? Do you want that work to go on? The choice is yours? Will you make the right decision (in the 2022 General Election)? Will you make the right choice?”Uhuru posed in a direct reference to Raila Odinga amid cheers from the crowd.
