Africa-Press – Kenya. Former Cabinet Minister Kipruto Arap Kirwa now says Opposition Chief Raila Odinga lost the presidency because of internal blunders and the Jubilee baggage.
Speaking on K24, the ex-Cherangany MP said that it was a wrong move to allow retired President Uhuru Kenyatta to chair the Azimio la Umoja One Kenya party.
The retired president was not only the chairman of the coalition party, but also chaired the outfit’s top decision making organ known as the council. Raila, who was the coalition presidential flagbearer, was the leader of the Azimio party leader.
“Something which tactfully I think was a big mistake is to allow Uhuru to remain in Azimio,” he said on Thursday.
Kirwa said it was hard for the Azimio to be proud of being the opposition outfit yet its own leader -President Kenyatta-was at the same time, the leader of the Jubilee government. This, he said, placed the burden of the Jubilee government on Raila’s presidency, giving President William Ruto an edge.
“I feel Raila had the misfortune of carrying the burden of the incumbency. It was clear that William Ruto was able to demonstrate that Raila was the burden of incumbency and he run away from it,” Kirwa said.
As a result, he said, it was hard to separate Raila from the failures of Uhuru’s government post the handshake. However, still with the blame, Kirwa said Raila tried and the votes he got from Mt.Kenya was a good performance.
Post handshake, Ruto turned Raila into a punching bag, blaming the ODM leader over the failed promises the Jubilee administration gave to Kenyans in the 2017 general elections.
Ruto claimed that everything was well planned until Raila “hijacked” the government’s plan with the introduction of the Constitution Amendment Bill (BBI).
Going further, Kirwa revealed that the structures and supporters of Azimio also played a role in how the coalition performed in the last polls. Compared with the United Democratic Alliance party, he said that Azimio ought to have a more interactive way of bringing other leaders on board.
Kirwa explained that in Azimio, many leaders took ownership and the fact that Uhuru and Raila were both heads of the coalition, was not a smart structure.
“Unlike Kenya Kwanza whose leader was de facto, when he invited the other leaders to work with him, it was clear that William Ruto was the leader. The rest including Musalia, Wetangula knew their place and by that the coalition structure was fit,” he said.
Kirwa dumped Kenya Kwanza in May last year during an Azimio rally at Sirisia market in Bungoma county where he announced his resignation as the UDA vice chairman.
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