Reprieve for Lenku as Nkedianye moves to Jubilee, withdraws petition

Deputy President William Ruto Photo:Courtesy

Deputy President William Ruto has accused National Super Alliance leader Raila Odinga of fearing defeat in October 26 repeat poll.

Ruto said Raila pulled out of the poll after sensing defeat and vowed that the October 26 repeat poll would go on, with or without the National Super Alliance.

“He (Raila) wanted to avoid a humiliating defeat but the court today has ruled that all candidates who participated in August 8 will be in the ballot,” he said. “So he will not escape another defeat,” he added.

Ruto was speaking in Kitengela when he received former Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) Kajiado Governor David Nkedianye who decamped to Jubilee Party. 

Dr Nkedianye defected to Jubilee alongside scores of the county’s leaders, and announced that he had withdrawn an election petition against Governor Joseph Ole Lenku.

The Deputy President admitted it had not been easy to lure Nkedianye to Jubilee saying similar efforts in 2012 flopped.

“It took us six years to convince this man to join Jubilee. We value his contribution to Maasai politics,” said the Deputy President.The former governor said it had been a tough decision to make in shifting from NASA to Jubilee, but expressed satisfaction as the community had been “consulted and agreed with it”.

Nkedianye’s defection is a culmination of talks engineered by Governor Ole  Lenku and his Narok counterpart, Samuel Tunai, and brokered by the DP.

A former political rival of Ole Lenku and a staunch NASA supporter, Nkedianye pledged to work with the current governor and Jubilee.

“We have now crossed over. I will not pursue the case against my brother Ole Lenku and will henceforth support Jubilee and President Kenyatta,” he said.

Last week, a group of opposition leaders led by the ODM county chairman Daniel Osoi crossed over to Jubilee dealing a major blow to the opposition in the county.

Among the NASA big wigs who changed sides was the ODM’s Kajiado East Parliamentary seat loser Kakuta Maimai

“We want everyone on board. We cannot gamble with the Presidency, we have it and we can’t let it go,” said Ole Lenku.

He said Uhuru had promised mega projects for Kajiado and the only way to get them was to ensure he remains in office.

Ole Lenku’s effort to bring back Jubilee critics in the county back to Government was seen recently when he named ODM’s Woman Representative Aspirant, Esther Somoile to his cabinet.