A section of Nyanza leaders has endorsed ODM leader Raila Odinga for the presidency ahead of the crucial 2022 General Election.
The ODM leaders from six counties of Kisumu, Homa Bay, Siaya, Migori, Kisii, and Nyamira in a joint statement read by Homa Bay Governor Cyprian Awiti pressed Raila to declare his candidature for the 2022 presidency.
“We want you to go out there and bring the presidency home. We are giving you our endorsement for the top seat,” said Homa Bay Governor Cyprian Awiti.
The statement by Awiti was read in Homa Bay county where the ODM leader met political leadership from across the larger Nyanza region.
With barely 11 months to the polls, the former Prime Minister is yet to declare his candidature despite the fact that his main rival Deputy President William Ruto has already declared.
It is suspected that the opposition chief is waiting for the outcome of the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) which is at the Court of Appeal before he declares his next political move.
This comes at a time when the Head of State is pushing other opposition principals to shelves their presidential ambitions in favor of his handshake partner who he believes has the muscles to defeat his estranged Deputy in the 2022 State House race.
Former National Super Alliance principals Musalia Mudavadi (ANC), Kalonzo Musyoka (Wiper), and Moses Wetang’ula (Ford Kenya) had vowed not to back a Raila Odinga presidency again despite calls for the opposition chiefs to unite, something that could have delayed Odinga from declaring his candidature.
This prompted President Uhuru to intervene to ensure that the opposition leaders were united to form a strong winning team.
The president has held several meetings with ex-NASA chiefs together with KANU chair Gideon Moi and their latest meeting held on Wednesday, August 18, at State lodges in Mombasa seemed to have inched closer to uniting the opposition.
