Kenya:Wiper Party Wants Kalonzo To Back Raila’s Presidential Bid

By Samuel Ouma

Leaders allied to the Wiper party have rallied their party boss Kalonzo Musyoka to drop his presidential bid and back the former Prime Minister Raila Odinga for the top seat.

The leaders, led by the party’s organizing secretary Robert Mbui held a consultative meeting on Monday, May 23 2022, in Machakos County, South-Eastern Kenya, and unanimously agreed that Kalonzo should not vie presidency this year. They asked their boss to reconsider working with Azimio La Umoja One-Kenya alliance flag-bearer Raila Odinga.

The leaders implored Kalonzo to exhaust all internal dispute resolution channels within the Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Coalition party. If the talks fail, they promised to rally behind him ahead of the August 9 polls.

“There is a dispute resolution mechanism under that alliance, so we are asking our party leader that we do consider the possibility of having further discussions on this coalition arrangement,” said Mbui.

According to them, Kalonzo bolted out of the coalition due to a lack of structured discussions on the coalition’s arrangement.

Kalonzo ditched Raila Odinga’s led coalition on May 16, 2022, after the ODM party leader snubbed him for Martha Karua for the running mate post.

He declared his presidential bid and picked Andrew Sunkuli as his running mate.

Kalonzo is currently in the UK for personal errands.