Is Raila’s ship sinking before the re-run?
With barely 20 days before the elections scheduled for October 26th are held a lot of political movements and realignment has been witnessed in the country.
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After the Supreme Court nullified the August 8th presidential elections, the Court ordered the electoral body to hold fresh elections within 60 days.
With barely 20 days before the elections scheduled for October 26th are held, a lot of political movements and realignment has been witnessed in the country and opposition leader Raila Odinga's NASA has borne the brunt of it.
His campaign has been hit by high profile defections leading to many wonder if Raila’s ship sinking before the re-run?
Business Insider SSA runs through the the major defections.
Hassan Omar
The latest politician to dump Raila is former Mombasa Senator Hassan Omar.
Prior to quitting the NASA ship, Omar was the secretary general of Wiper Party, the faction of Raila’s running mate, Kalonzo Musyoka
Omar cited frustrations and abandonment by the two principals as the reason for jumping ship.
Speaking on Sunday where he officially joined Jubilee after being welcomed by President Uhuru Kenyatta and DP William Ruto, Omar said that none of the two principals checked on him except for DP William Ruto who called three days later after the August 8 election to encourage him.
Omar represented a more accommodating and modern face of Mombasa and possess one of the sharpest political minds in the country.
Isaac Rutto
This was the biggest loss to Raila’s brigade and it is still unclear if he will recover from it.
The Former Bomet Governor was even one of the principals in NASA’s five-man team n the first round of the election.
Raila had hoped to use Rutto to canvass for votes in the South but his loss in the gubernatorial race to Jubilee's Joyce Laboso changed all that.
Rutto cited the people’s will to stick with Kenyatta and therefore had no option but to abide by the wishes if he hoped to remain as a leader.
“So these brothers came and looked for me… and I think we should work together,” he said.
Peter Munya
‘The enemy of my enemy is my friend’ best describes the relationship former Meru Governor had with Raila’s NASA team.
Munya was one of the sternest critics of Uhuru in the build up to the election as leader of the Party of National Unity (PNU) with NASA capitalising on it in Meru.
As a result, Munya’s opponents accused him of being a NASA sympathiser in his failed bid to become governor.
Munya cited the reason for dumping Raila was reached after thorough consultations with party members, elders and supporters across the country that he should back President Kenyatta in the best interest of the country.
Odinga, however, disclosed that Munya was called (to State House) and blackmailed into going back to support Kenyatta and that he was under undue pressure.
David Musila
Former Kitui senator and Wiper Democratic Party chairman David Musila, former Mwingi West MP Bernard Kitungi and 18 politicians allied to the National Super Alliance (NASA) from Makueni announced they would support and campaign for the re-election of President Uhuru Kenyatta.
“We cannot afford to be outside the government for another five years, so the logical thing to do is to support the winning team and be assured of development,” Mr. Musila said in Kitui.