Kipipiri Member of Parliament Amos Kimunya on Tuesday, May 3, explained why Jubilee aspirants in the Mount Kenya region have not been using Azimio presidential candidate Raila Odinga's photos in their campaign posters.
Speaking to the media in Kiambu, where the former Premier held meetings with aspirants from two Mt Kenya counties, Kimunya claimed that the politicians were only acting out of fear of Odinga was unpopular.
He blamed the perceived unpopularity on old misconceptions about the ODM leader across the region. However, he added that top leaders were working to shift the perception of the leader ahead of the August 9 poll.
"It is a misconception part of which is because people do not quite appreciate the popularity of Raila in Mt Kenya. Granted he doesn't have 100 per cent but he does not have zero, it could be 50 per cent but in the next two months it could increase," he added.
The Majority Leader in the National assembly opined that voters from the region, who he described as economically oriented, need to be alive to the fact that their choice of the next president would affect the Mt Kenya region and the country as a whole.
He advised that since the vote-rich region would not be fielding a candidate for the presidency in this year's general election, then the residents should place their bets on a leader who would do so. Kimunya emphatically ruled out his opponent.
"Mt Kenya is so important a region economically and we are not going to deliver that economy to somebody whose tool in trade is ripping off everywhere he goes.
"Our region must know that it is their time to defend themselves and without one of their own in State House, we need one we can trust and the only safe hands we have is Baba the fifth," Kimunya added.
Recent political polls indicate that the Azimio la Umoja One Kenya presidential candidate still lags behind his Kenya Kwanza rival Deputy President William Ruto. This, despite having the backing of President Uhuru Kenyatta.
Uhuru, who has publicly endorsed his handshake partner to succeed him at the Sagana 3 meeting, openly admitted to playing a role in creating a negative perception about Odinga in the region.
This, coupled with historical declarations like an oath allegedly to have been taken at Mzee Jomo Kenyatta's Ichaweri home in Gatanga, prove to be a stumbling block in selling the Raila presidency in Mount Kenya.
On the other part, Ruto has been leveraging this discord to gain political mileage in the region. He has also used the current state of the economy to push his own agenda on economic revival.
