President Uhuru Kenyatta's top aide has decried pressure to drop his gubernatorial bid barely days after declaring his ambitions to vie for the seat in the August 9 polls.
In an address to the media on Sunday, February 6, State House Chief of Staff Nzioka Waita stated that he was being coerced by senior politicians from the Lower Eastern region to drop his Machakos gubernatorial bid.
Nzioka stated that the senior politicians, whom he did not name, favoured the candidature of a Member of Parliament.
“I want to say something today. There are a lot of people who have given me pressure as they do not want me to vie for the seat.
“There are senior politicians from this region who are saying that I should shelve my ambitions in favour of an MP so that others can battle it out for the governor's seat,” he disclosed.
Nzioka went ahead to affirm his intentions to contest for the seat adding that no amount of pressure would desuaded him from being on the ballot in August.
“I want to affirm in broad daylight that we are going to take this seat. I want the mothers, the youth, and everyone to be ready as I prepare to come and see them and listen to them so that we can have an agreement on how we will build out the county,” Waita stated.
Additionally, the State House Chief of Staff added that there were some residents of Machakos who were also being intimidated to support other candidates.
He further expressed his intentions to vie through a party that supports the former Prime Minister Raila Odinga's presidential bid.
“Do not be scared. I have heard that the residents of Mavoko have been intimidated so much. I want to tell them not to be scared,”
“We will stand together with Raila Odinga and we shall walk with him until we ensure that he is in State House. There is no doubt that Azimio la Umoja is the direction to go for this country,” he stated.
During a TV interview on February 1, Waita had announced that he would leave office on February 9 so as to focus on his campaigns.
"On that day, I will then make a farewell call to the president and ask for his blessings and support as well as thank him for allowing me to serve the people of Kenya,” he stated then.
Waita is set to battle it out with former Transport Chief Administrative Secretary (CAS) Wavinya Ndeti of Wiper party and United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party chairman, Johnson Muthama.
