President Uhuru woos Nairobi, urges Peter Kenneth to back Mike Sonko

President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy Willliam Ruto address supporters in Dagoretti, Nairobi. They urged their supporters not to divide votes. [Edward Kiplimo, Standard]

President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto Friday intensified the battle for the crucial 2.2 million votes in Nairobi County.

The President who joined Nairobi Senator Mike Sonko and other Jubilee candidates on the campaign trail which saw the team traverse five constituencies, pleaded with the city residents not to divide their votes. Kenyatta, who singled out the Nairobi gubernatorial race, asked the voters to avoid the mistake they made in 2013, which saw ODM’s Evans Kidero clinch the city county’s top job.

“The time to restore the glory of Nairobi is now and you hold the key to that change. Vote for Jubilee candidates on August 8 and you will see how we will transform this city,” President Kenyatta said at Riruta Stadium in Dagoretti South, during one of the several campaign stops.

He drummed up support for the Jubilee Party candidates in Nairobi, including Sonko for Governor, Johnson Sakaja for Senator and incumbent Rachel Shebesh for Women’s Representative.

He also urged support for local MPs and MCA candidates in the areas he held rallies which included Huruma Grounds and Dandora.

“I am here to ask for your votes, to give me the mandate to finish the job. We have laid the foundation for prosperity and now we need to complete the job,” the President said at Dandora Stadium.

Door to door campaigns

“But we need a strong team. We need Sonko who understands the city’s residents, and we want you to strongly support other Jubilee aspirants who emerged winners during the nominations in April,” Uhuru said.

Speaking at Jacaranda, President Kenyatta asked former Gatanga MP Peter Kenneth who is vying for the gubernatorial seat on an independent ticket to shelve his ambition and support Mr Sonko and his running-mate Polycarp Igathe.

“I say to Peter, the people of Nairobi wanted Sonko. Let him get on with the job. We know you have suffered under the current county leadership but we assure you that Sonko and his team will transform the city,” Kenyatta said.

Deputy President William Ruto said Jubilee had put in place a plan that will create jobs for the youth in Nairobi and across the country, adding that the party’s line-up in Nairobi reflects the face of Kenya the President said.

He cited the construction of the Standard Gauge Railway, the improvement of roads and expanding electricity connection as part of the industrialisation agenda that will create employment.

He added: “We want to continue the work we are doing. But we also want you to give us a strong Jubilee team led by (Aspirant) Governor Mike Sonko,” the Deputy President said. Sonko heaped blame on Dr Kidero for the ill’s facing the county, and challenged the city residents to vote him out on August 8, if they want a better life and better service delivery.

Kakamega support

Meanwhile, Jubilee professionals in Western have vowed to get at least 50 per cent votes in support of President Kenyatta re-election bid.

They noted that in 2013, the Head of State got 66,000 votes from the entire region and attributed it to lack of point men in the region.

“We target 18 MP seats out of the 33 in western region. We also need at least 800,000 votes from 1.9 million the region has ,” said George Munji, a member of the Jubilee campaign team in the region.

Speaking in Kakamega town while meeting professionals and opinion leaders from the region, he noted that the party has resorted to door-door campaign strategies to net votes of the undecided voters.

“We are using the development projects Jubilee has done to our region to convince the undecided voters to join our camp. We are sure we will beat NASA,” he said.

Hudson Aluvanze, Jubilee Regional Coordinator in western said they have opted to engage in dialogue with opinion leaders to ensure President Uhuru wins.

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