Presidential hopeful and ODM leader Raila Odinga has embarked on a tour of Deputy President Willliam Ruto’s political bedroom to seek support in the Rift Valley area.
The former Prime Minister is on Thursday, October 14, expected to begin his vote hunting mission in Turkana County before he heads to Uasin Gishu County on Friday, October 15.
“He will then head to Meru for another meeting with delegates from Meru, Embu, Tharaka Nithi, and then Ukambani, Mt Kenya West and a final meeting in Nairobi,” ODM Secretary General told the People Daily.
During his visit to William Ruto’s political bedroom, President Uhuru Kenyatta’s handshake partner will be seeking to reclaim a region that overwhelmingly voted for him in the 2007 General Election.
The region which boasts of close to 4.5 million votes is expected to be a battleground for presidential aspirants seeking to succeed retiring President Uhuru Kenyatta.
Raila Odinga’s visit to Rift Valley, the region perceived to be William Ruto’s political bastion comes barely a week after he addressed the Kalenjin nation through the community’s five radio stations where he sought their support in the 2022 presidential election.
During an interview with Kalenjin vernacular stations, Raila dismissed possibilities of him working with the deputy president in the 2022 elections adding that he does not need William Ruto to win the Rift Valley vote in 2022.
Raila asked the Kalenjin community to give him someone he can work with in the 2022 elections adding that William Ruto was not responsible for the support he got from the region in the heated 2007 elections.
“I am waiting for the Kalenjin community to give me someone I can work with, but I am still the Arap Mibei (man from the lakeside)you used to know,” he said referring to a nickname given to him by William Ruto’s Kalenjin community in the run-up to the 2007 General Election.
