Uhuru Urges Nairobi Gubernatorial Aspirants to Unite

President Uhuru Kenyatta has warned Nairobi gubernatorial aspirants against ongoing war of words regarding who would run for the seat on a Jubilee Party ticket.

Kenyatta who is traversing the country in a voter registration campaign cautioned that the aspirants risked losing the seat to the Opposition like it happened in the 2013 General Election.

The President noted that Jubilee failed to win in 2013 after two competing aspirants refused to work together and ended up diving votes and giving incumbent governor Evans Kidero an advantage.

"They should look at what happened in 2013. Or have they forgotten? We lost the seat because the two candidates who were in our camp could not agree on fronting one of them. They ended up dividing the vote, granting the advantage to our opponents," he recalled.

The Head of State maintained that the candidates have to work together if they want to actualise a plan of dethroning Kidero from the position.

“These leaders must look at the bigger picture and the suffering that the residents of Nairobi are going through. They need to find a way of working together. I have repeatedly told them that," he asserted.

One faction comprising Nairobi Senator Mike Sonko, former Starehe MP Margaret Wanjiru, Johnson Sakaja (nominated) and Dennis Waweru (Dagoretti South) are opposed to the candidature of former Gatanga MP Peter Kenneth who is being supported by Maina Kamanda (Starehe), Rachael Shebesh (Women Rep) among others.

Speaking on Saturday in Meru, Sonko who accompanied the President on a tour of the region, said that the aspirants were working together but maintained they would allow an outsider to join the race through “the back door”.

At the same time, President Kenyatta declared that no candidate would be favoured during nominations and the party would recognise those who are elected by the voters.