ANOTHER GROUP OF REFUGEES LEAVE DADAAB FOR SOMALIA

The Jubilee Party ticket for the Nairobi governor's seat has narrowed down to a two-horse race.

And the two horses for the seat are former Gatanga MP and 2013 presidential candidate Peter Kenneth and Nairobi Senator Mike Sonko.

Reports had indicated that the duo had been advised by the party leadership to fall back on consensus method and come up with a winning line-up.

This should not be construed to mean that JP did not believe in the tenets of democracy and public participation.

The strategy was meant to avoid a situation where the primaries would be infiltrated by their rivals, making them end up with a weak candidate.

Mr Kenneth and Sonko, however, seem to have resolved not to heed the call.

Each would later declare he was ready to face the other in the nominations.

With this, the question that then comes to mind is, who between Sonko and Kenneth stands a better chance of clinching the JP ticket?

Well, I sought the opinion of a cross-section of Githurai residents on this matter.

Of course, opinion was divided. Those who support Sonko made interesting observations.

They said although Sonko puts on earrings and bling-blings, they had no problem with this. They said he addresses the problems of the poor and the downtrodden, who are the majority in this city.

Sonko's supporters said it matters little whether he has been mentioned adversely in the past, as Kenya is a rotten society. They added that most leaders, even those seeking to fly the NASA flag, have been adversely mentioned in negative incidents of yesteryears.

City residents don't seem to care where their leaders get their money from, so long as they share it with the downtrodden.

Kenneth supporters averred that he is clean, sober, well educated and not a tribal kingpin. His track record when he served as an MP for Gatanga speaks itself.

He represents the interests of all the people including downtrodden.

Overall, he was the best performer in terms of managing the Constituency Development Fund cash and other resources allocated to his constituency.

He also proved his worth when he served as Assistant Minister for National Planning.

He was one of the brains behind Vision 2030, which would lay the foundation for the socio-economic development of this country.

Kenneth's decision to run in the 2013 presidential election should not be misconstrued to mean he harboured ill-feelings against then Jubilee flag bearer Uhuru Kenyatta.

As a leader with ambitions to one day lead this nation, he had to start somewhere. This is the essence of democracy.

Kenneth has already declared that in the 2022 polls he will support DP Ruto to succeed President Kenyatta.

It should be remembered that Kibaki and Uhuru, who hailfrom the same community, contested the presidency in 2002 polls.

Uhuru lost to Kibaki and he accepted defeat. It did not take long before the duo reconciled and agreed to work together.

Unlike other presidential candidates and in particular Raila Odinga and Martha Karua, at no time did Kenneth support the Uhuru's ICC trial, which flopped for lack of evidence.

PK's downside seems to be that he has made little efforts to reach out to the voters. Most people have never seen him in person. He should come and sell his manifesto.

Whoever wins the nomination will square it out with ODM's Evans Kidero.

 

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