Westlands MP Tim Wanyonyi has turned down President Uhuru Kenyatta’s appeal to shelve his Nairobi gubernatorial ambitions in favor of businessman Polycarp Igathe.
On Tuesday, April 19, President Uhuru Kenyatta held a three-hour meeting with Raila Odinga and other Azimio la Umoja gubernatorial hopefuls whose main agenda was to see all other hopefuls in the coalition shelve their ambitions in favor of Igathe.
“Uhuru made the proposal that Wanyonyi should step down and deputize Igathe saying ODM cannot have both the presidency and the leadership of the country’s capital,” a source who sought anonymity said as quoted by the People Daily Newspaper dated Wednesday, April 20.
However, addressing a press conference shortly after the meeting, Tim Wanyonyi said he was firmly in the race for Nairobi gubernatorial seat stating that he had gone too far to pull back.
In a conference that lasted for less than two minutes, the ODM lawmaker said he would rather retreat and defend his Westlands parliamentary seat than to deputize Igathe who is highly favored by the Mt Kenya business elite.
“Nataka kuwajulisha kwamba bado niko kwenye kinyang’anyiro. Nairobi ni yetu sote sio ya wale wachache ambao wanafikiria wanaweza kutupanga (I want to assure you I’m still in the race. Nairobi belongs to all of us, not the few who think they can manage us)” Wanyonyi said.
The source further revealed that President Uhuru failed to broker a deal with his handshake partner Raila Odinga who insisted that Wanyonyi had built a strong network in the city and that it was too late for him to step down.
“Raila sided with Wanyonyi that he had already built a strong network in the city and that it was too late to market the candidate who was being pushed,” the source said.
