What Tim Wanyonyi’s candidature means for Raila Odinga

By Erick Ludeya

The Nairobi gubernatorial race is shaping up to be a battle of wits among political heavyweights ahead of the 2022 general election.

Westlands MP Tim Wanyonyi is so far the only aspirant who has officially launched his bid in a colorful ceremony held at the Kenyatta Convention Center( KICC).

Nairobi senator Johnson Sakaja,Kenya Chambers of Commerce and Industry president Richard Ngatia and business woman Agnes Kagure have also expressed interest.However,it is the candidature of Tim Wanyonyi that has triggered a lot of interest in ODM and Jubilee parties.

Wanyonyi who is riding on his splendid performance as Westlands MP is a close friend to ODM party leader Raila Odinga’s family.Raila wife Mama Ida Odinga confirmed this when he attended an event in Westlands.

  Ida said Wanyonyi is an intelligent and experienced politician who is qualified to manage Kenya’s capital.

He has been a councilor and an MP for two terms. Do you want him to go with just that? If he has got a dream, let him dream and we can help him achieve it,” Ida said.

Two months down the line,the contest is turning out to be ta ribal warfare between the Luhya community and the larger Mount Kenya community in Nairobi.This got a notch higher when Raila Odinga declared the formation of Azimio La Umoja Movement.

It is widely expected that ODM and Jubilee could merge into one movement and this technically means that the two parties will have to agree on who is best suited to fly the Nairobi flag.

The contest in the Azimio La Umoja is shaping up to be two-horce race between Tim Wanyonyi and Richard Ngatia.
The Times understands that Odinga has been told about the importance of Wanyonyi’s candidature as far as the Luhya vote is concerned in the Azimio la Umoja’s presidential vote hunt.

” We have made it clear to the party leaders that the Nairobi seat will be the first biggest reward our party leader can give to the Luhya nation,” Hezron Chiloba who is as seasoned ODM grass root mobilizer in Nairobi said.

He advised that it will be dangerous for Raila and ODM in Nairobi if the candidature of Tim Wanyonyi  is not handled well.

” The Luhya nation is obviously  watching  and we know that our opponents are keenly following to see what will happen,” he added.

Concerns have been raised that some officials within ODM are working with Mr Ngatia to distabilise Wanyonyi’s bid. Interestingly, ODM Secretary General Edwin Sifuna has declared interest for the Nairobi senate seat.

Sifuna’s declaration has been interpreted in some quarters as a strategy to alter Wanyonyi’s bid because the Azimio la Umoja spirit is pinched on the need to balance the tribal arithmetic in Nairobi.

Both Wanyonyi and Sifuna come from Bungoma county in Western Kenya and this is already turning out to be hectic to Mr. Odinga is his quest to accommodate everyone in his 2022 Azimio train.

It is understood that Mr Odinga is doing everything possible to impress the Mount Kenya region and fears that he may give in to the idea of dishing out Nairobi to them can be justified.

Odinga is expected to name a running mate from the Mount Kenya region and political pundits argue that it will be prudent and helpful to him if the Nairobi seat is given to the Luhya community.

” He has no otherwise but safeguard his Luhya vote by first of all dangling the Nairobi seat to them and further promise them opportunities in the national government,” Japheth Ochieng,a political analyst opines.

It will be interesting to see how this will pan out in the end but one thing that is clear,is that Wanyonyi’s candidature is giving the ODM party a headache which it must embrace positively.

About The Author