Nakuru Governor Lee Kinyanjui is increasingly gaining popularity in the Mt Kenya region and across the country, amid reports he could be Raila Odinga’s running mate.
Although a first-time governor, Kinyanjui’s political exploits and maneuvers have captured the attention of keen political observers who are considering him a potential number two in Raila’s 2022 political matrix.
For the last two months, the Nakuru county boss has been at the heart of the former Prime Minister’s political maneuvers in Mt Kenya.
On August 17, 2021, Kinyanjui’s Nakuru county played host to Raila during the Azimio la Umoja launch, a clarion call for peace, unity, and stability as foundations of the former premier’s main agenda in his quest to become Kenya’s fifth president.
Kinyanjui stole the show with his declarations and the vow to back Raila’s bid,
“We want to go into the election not with an option of winning but winning is a must. Our decision must be based on what is good for the country. I will be careful to see who will fight corruption,” said the governor.
Before the launch, Raila had held private meetings with the governor to plan how to make the event a success.
On September 22, Kinyanjui met again with Raila at a burial function in Nakuru. Here, the county boss disclosed he had never voted for the former Prime minister ever since he started vying for the presidency but was ready to do so in 2022.
“Personally, I have voted five to six times. All those years, I have never voted for Raila, but in the coming year, I see that changing,” the Nakuru Governor stated.
One week later, Kinyanjui, alongside three other governors, took Raila to Mt Kenya counties and popularised his presidential bid for the first time in history.
He reminded the ODM boss not to gamble with the running mate slot.
“On the issue of a running mate, the region has for a very long time, had top seats. So for this time not to be at the top, the least, he could give them is a running mate,” said the governor.
On October 1, Kinyanjui posted a lengthy writeup on his social media pages, debunking a narrative that Raila was not sellable in Mt Kenya.
“In all political decisions, interests reign supreme, not individuals. It is therefore a great fallacy to say an individual is not sellable. It is his agenda that might not be sellable but not the individual. Speak to their interest and you have their heart,” he added.
A few days later, the Luo council of elders endorsed Kinyanjui as one of the elders of the Nyanza-based community.
This was a rare fete; few politicians have been accorded this kind of honour and respect by the Luo community.
After the coronation, the Nakuru county boss announced that he would be ditching the ruling Jubilee Party for a new outfit that would champion Ubuntu, the spirit of Africanism, brotherhood, and togetherness.
The idea and philosophy behind Kinyanjui’s new outfit rhyme and resonate with Raila’s Azimio La Umoja declaration.
Keen political observers have also noted the Nakuru governor has been given more prominence in most of the meetings he has attended alongside the ODM leader.
Even in the media, Kinyanjui has become a common interviewee for the past three months. Arguably, he is one of the most interviewed governor from Mt Kenya.
His name has found a permanent space on Twitter and every time he speaks in a national function, he features on the day’s trends.
“Kinyanjui is a serious politician with qualities of a great leader, I believe he can make a good deputy president, but it’s too early to make that conclusion because they are other factors to be considered,” opined political analyst Herman Manyora.
Unifying factor
Nakuru county is one of the regions that were greatly affected by 2007/08 Post-Election Violence that claimed over 1000 lives and saw tens of thousands of families displaced.
The county is dominated by the Kikuyus and Kalenjins, whose relationship has been a rollercoaster of political emotions since 2007.
Kinyanjui, though bearing a Kikuyu name, is partly seen by the Kalenjin people as one of their own. The governor’s family background and ties have been closely guarded, with little available details linking him to a Kalenjin father.
Besides being a unifying factor in Nakuru, one of the counties with the highest number of voters, Kinyanjui is also seen as the beacon of unity and voice of reason in Mt Kenya.
He is one of the few governors whose names have not been soaked in corruption and other leadership mishaps.
The first-time governor has also created few political enemies and, on the contrary, widened his network of friends at the pinnacle of the country’s leadership.
Hailing from Nakuru also presents him as the most suitable running mate for Raila since, arithmetically, he is likely to tilt Ruto’s voting block from South Rift and effectively boost Raila’s chance of ascending to power.
