Westlands Member of Parliament Tim Wanyonyi has for the first time come close to revealing the finer details that led to him bowing out of the Nairobi gubernatorial race in 2022.
In an exclusive interview on Wednesday, July 5 at Radio 47, Mr Wanyonyi said it was not his own decision to step down.
He said the political arrangement that was at the Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Coalition that brought together a number of parties including Raila Odinga’s Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) and Uhuru Kenyatta’s Jubilee Party was to blame for the decision.
At the same time, he revealed that the coalition had decided to use zoning explaining that since the previous holder of the Governor’s seat was a member of Jubilee, it was agreed that the 2022 race be spared for the party.
“It was a hard decision, not just for me but for people who had campaigned and my withdrawal was difficult and painful to them and even some vowed not to cast their ballots,” he told the presenters.
“Jubilee had two candidates and ODM had only one. And because of the Azimio agreement, it was agreed that since Governor Mike Sonko was from Jubilee, it was agreed that Nairobi be for Jubilee and ODM takes its previous seats,” he narrated.
He added that the zoning agreement was costly as some of the seats that had been reserved for Jubilee were grabbed by President William Ruto’s United Democratic Alliance (UDA).
“But that time, Jubilee had remained a shell, it had been swallowed by Ruto. So, all the seats we had reserved for Jubilee were swallowed by UDA,” he said.
According to him, he was disappointed by the zoning stating that maybe, had it not been the case, Nairobi would be under the control of the Azimio coalition with him as Governor.
Mr Wanyonyi, the most favourite candidate Azimio had for the City Hall seat, was forced to step down, after many years of campaigning, weaving networks and support base, in favour of ex-deputy governor Polycarp Igathe who was walloped by UDA’s Johnson Sakaja, who was the then Nairobi senator.
As the campaigns entered the homestretch, it was all clear that the ODM legislator was going to win the race with even some of his competitors showing signs of pulling out and backing his bid.
The most notable competitors for the seat included then KNCCI president Fred Ngatia and business lady Agnes Kagure.
by: KhakameSoita