With less than seven days to go before Kenyans elect their new leaders during the August 9 general elections, all eyes are fixed on the presidential race, which has since been narrowed between Raila Odinga, and Deputy President William Ruto, despite Root’s candidate George Wajackoya and Agno’s David Mwaure being in the race..
Raila is seeking to succeed President Uhuru Kenyatta under the Azimio La Umoja One Kenya Alliance banner, while Ruto is contesting under the United Democratic Alliance Party, UDA.
Both Raila and Ruto have their running mates, Martha Karua and Rigathi Gachagua respectively, from Mount Kenya Region, which according to a number of political experts will determine who wins the top seats.
According to Political Observer Dennis Nthumbi, Ruto has a higher possibility of defeating Raila in the presidential race, owing to the influence he has across the country, and more so in Mt Kenya and Rift Valley Region.
Speaking with K24 TV on Monday evening, Nthumbi argued that the statistics are clear that Raila will be struggling to get the votes he got in 2013 and 2017 from his traditional bases, since they had become porous for Ruto who has good inroads in those regions.
“There are statistics that show that most people who gave Raila most votes in 2013 and 2017 from their regions are now in Kenya Kwanza. For instance Western Region led by Musalia Mudavadi and Moses Wetangula.”
“At the Coast Region, Raila got over 80 per cent of votes in Kilifi and Kwale Counties. These two are led by leaders, Amason Kingi and Salim Mvurya, who are now in KKA. Ruto is a step ahead since he has Mount Kenya region,” he said.
Nthumbi further alleged that Nairobi has in the past two elections supported Raila’s bid, but he is confident that Ruto will get at least 60 per cent of the votes.