Odinga to support Kalonzo for president in 2022

Opposition chief Raila Odinga has claimed that he will support his NASA co-principal Kalonzo Musyoka’s presidential bid in 2022.

Mr. Odinga has all but announced that he is done running for the country’s top political office saying that his only focus is the controversial January 30 swearing in. When it comes to 2022, he will back Mr. Musyoka who was his running mate in 2013 and 2017 State House bids.

“Sisi tunaongea kuhusu ushindi wa tarehe nane, mwezi wa nane, Profesa ameniambia niangalia 2022, profesa, tafadhali, sisi tuna ile swara tuliua, jamaa wakashika wanaenda nayo, tunataka tushike tuchinje wakenya wakule… Ile ambaye iko porini, 2022, tutasaidia Kalonzo kuwinda na kushika… Wachie hii kusumbua Kalonzo mambo ya 2022 tumalize mambo ya 2017 kwanza, tunakubaliana?”

(We are talking about our win in August 8, (Governor) Professor Kibwana has asked me to concentrate on 2022, Professor, please, we killed an antelope in August 2017… we want to get it, slaughter and feed Kenyans first. The one that is in the wild, 2022, we will help Kalonzo to hunt and catch it. Let us finish with issues of 2017 first.)

Mr. Odinga excited the crowd when he rehearsed his “oath of office” pledge; “Mimi naambia nyinyi, tarehe 30, mwezi wa January, Raila na Kalonzo watakua pale Uhuru Park ‘Mimi Raila Amolo Odinga, naapa ya kwamba…‘” (January 30th, Raila and Kalonzo will be at Uhuru Park. ‘I Raila Amolo Odinga swear that…”)

Mr. Odinga addressed the issue of a split in NASA between the principals saying they are all still together.

“Kalonzo na Raila na Wetangula, watasimama pamoja, hakuna mahali tutaenda,” he said. “Kalonzo, Raila and Wetangula will stand as one, we are not going anywhere.)

There have been murmurs of a split in NASA over the swearing in with some principals being against it. There is also the contentious issue of the sharing of slots in Parliament with Odinga’s ODM Party being asked to relinquish one slot from the Parliamentary Service Commission in favour of Wiper.