Ngilu and Musila in talks over top seat

Kitui Governor Charity Ngilu and former Senator David Musila are in talks that will see one of them drop out of the governor race in favour of the other. [File, Standard]

Kitui Governor Charity Ngilu and former Senator David Musila are in talks that will see one of them drop out of the governor race in favour of the other.

Ngilu and Musila are in Azimio la Umoja One Kenya under Narc and Jubilee parties respectively.

The leaders said they are open to talks to ensure that the governor seat goes to Azimio.

They said Azimio affiliate parties are now competing against Kalonzo Musyoka led Wiper party.

Wiper governor candidate is Kitui's former governor Dr Julius Malombe.

"We are both candidates of Azimio and we must continuously engage. We are not enemies at all," Ngilu said yesterday at Kitui Multipurpose hall after meeting Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) officials for a sensitisation workshop.

"Wiper has disengaged from Azimio and the party together with UDA are our competitors now," 

Malombe and Jonathan Mueke of UDA also attended the IEBC workshop.

She said they are working to avoid a situation in which both of them lose.

"If he (Musila) does not win and I don't win," added Ngilu, alluding to a possibility of one of them going for national politics.

The governor declared that together with Musila they will campaign for Azimio presidential candidate Raila Odinga in Kitui and the larger Ukambani.

The former senator said he is open to the idea of dropping out of the governor race.

"It is not surprising that we are together today, we are in Azimio.

"In the likely event that one of us goes national, they will support the other because we cannot support our competitors," he said.

Musila had picked Kennedy Moki from Kitui South as his running mate, while Malombe nominated Augustine Kanani from Mwingi North to deputise him.

Curiously, Ngilu has not made public her running mate yet.

There is speculation that the governor is lobbying to get the chief cabinet secretary slot set aside for Kalonzo in Azimio.