Jubilee Vice Chairman David Murathe has cautioned voters from Mt Kenya over their political stand stating that former Prime Minister Raila Odinga will decisively win the August 9 polls with or without the region's backing.
In a TV interview on Thursday, March 15, the ally of President Uhuru Kenyatta stated that the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party boss would win even if Deputy President William Ruto managed to beat him in Mt Kenya.
He stated that the region needed to urgently make a decision on if they wanted to be part of the winning team or remain in the cold after the 2022 polls.
Murathe added that the region, which has over four million votes would be doomed if Raila won the presidency and they did not back his candidature with numbers.
"This time round, in the worst-case scenario Raila gets 10 to 40 per cent of Mt Kenya votes, those are votes he never had anyway. The rest of his vote backyard is intact.
" The message to Mt Kenya is that Raila is winning this election and they better decide whether he is winning it with them on board or winning it without them on board. If he wins it without them, they know they will hot have a voice in the government and that is probably the strategy of the DP," he stated.
In regards to the DP's popularity, Murathe claimed that Ruto was sponsoring parties to solidify his grip of the region adding that it was a smart political move. On Tuesday March 15, during United Democratic Alliance's National Delegates Convention, several party leaders from the region made surprise appearances. They included Safina's presidential aspirant Jimi Wanjiri, The Service Party leader Mwangi Kiunjuri, Chama Cha Kazi's Moses Kuria and Wakenya Tujibebe's William Kabogo.
However, he stated that UDA needed to learn from the region's voting pattern adding that Mt Kenya voters choose new leaders in each election cycle.
"They are trying to create a wave not necessarily for Mt. Kenya but for the rest of the country to confuse people, particularly their own backyards of the Rift Valley, that the region is with them.
"If you have 6 candidates, only one of them will get the ticket. Out of the 6 gubernatorial candidates, only one will get it. What will happen to the others? It is smart for him because when all these people campaign he gains as the turnout for Ruto becomes good. We did it in Northern Kenya and the ultimate goal was to get votes for Uhuru," he stated.
Murathe added that the region would not impose a running mate on Raila adding that he would be free to choose a candidate from other regions. The Jubilee Vice-Chairman stated that all they would demand is a fair share of government given the votes the region will give Raila.
He added that he would not want to be in government if Raila wins stating that his focus is taming Ruto's influence in the region.
"We have a party which we are rebranding, The next thing is to kick out UDA from the region. For us, we just weren't a fair share of government. It was unconditionally, what we contribute to that government, we will just want a share," he stated.
