The battle for the August 9 presidential contest is shaping up to be what can be termed a two-horse race between ODM leader Raila Odinga and Deputy President William Ruto.
Raila is seeking the presidency on an Azimio la Umoja-One Kenya coalition party while the deputy president is seeking to succeed President Uhuru Kenyatta on a United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party ticket.
The perceived frontrunners in this year’s presidential election picked their running mates from the vote-rich Mt Kenya region which for the first time in Kenyan history does not have a serious presidential candidate.
Speaking in Nairobi after he was cleared by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) on Sunday, May 5, to vie for the country’s top seat, Raila Odinga dismissed the perception that the August 9 presidential election is a two-horse race.
Raila Odinga termed William Ruto as a donkey stating that the August 9 presidential race will be between a horse and a donkey.
“We met with (IEBC chairman Wafula) Chebukati and he said this horse (Raila Odinga) can enter the field. Now we are in the field, and we can see the donkey is also in the field, so it is between the horse and the donkey,” Raila Odinga said.
While Raila is confident that he has the backing of his handshake partner President Uhuru Kenyatta and several other regional kingpins and the Mt Kenya billionaires, Ruto is enjoying the support of the hustlers from across the country.
In a move to get a lion’s share of the huge voting GEMA bloc, William Ruto named Mathira MP Rigathi Gachagua while Raila Odinga picked Narc Kenya party leader Martha Karua as his 2022 presidential running mate.
