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A scheme by embattled Kajiado gubernatorial hopeful David Nkedianye to kick out governor Joseph Ole Lenku from the ballot was delt a major blow by high ranking officials within Azimio La Umoja secretariat.
Nkedianye who served as the first Governor of Kajiado is known for his shrewd political schemes but seems to have found a fierce and more calculative opponent in Lenku.
Nkedianye pulled a major surprise when hw defected from ODM to Jubilee without any convincing reason given ODM did not have any other strong candidate to field.
The political windmill from the corridors of power has brought to fore the schemes hatched by Nkedianye and a few Jubilee party officials.Their mission,to try and shortchange Lenku in the Jubilee party primaries and make Nkedianye the ultimate Azimio La Umoja candidate.
This is despite various opinion polls indicating that Lenku was still the most popular candidate among voters.It is not clear what exactly inspired the Jubilee party officials but allies close to Nkedianye have revealed in confidence that he had to part with a ‘handsome’ cheque to cast his cards.
Nkedianye’s scheme has become such a reality that even President Uhuru was partly convinced to the extent of almost endorsing him.
It was almost party time for Nkedianye and team until the inner circle within the Azimio secretariat warned that going with him as the Azimio candidate was akin to conceding defeat in Kajiado.
It is understood that even President Uhuru made a U-turn and contacted ODM leader Rail Odinga over the stalemate in Kajiado.It is at this point that a deal was struck to have Lenku as the incumbent defend his seat on the ODM ticket.
The think tanks behind this idea, according to our sources spotted the need to have the strongest candidate run on the ODM ticket which is the party the Azimio La Umoja candidate belongs to.The idea is to also have both Lenku and Nkedianye hit the ground with pro Raila campaigns to weed off any Kenya Kwanza waves from the vote rich county.
” Lenku, despite the challenges he has had, is seen as a sharp and big mobiliser who is loved in the county,”
When he defected to ODM, Lenku send a strong warning to his opponents, promising to knock on all doors in Kajiado to deliver the overwhelming votes to Raila Odinga,win the gubernatorial race and deliver a minimum of 20 electoral wards to Azimio.
He declared Kajiado an Azimio zone, telling off pollsters who have ranked it as a battle ground.
” Kajiado is not a battle ground.It is an Azimio La Umoja ground and we are going to prove that come August 9,”
Lenku is the official Maa Community spokesman and also chairs the Maa Counties economic block.
His move to ODM,has definitely send the Nkedianye camp back to the drawing board.Raila’s preference for Lenku means majority of Azimio supporters in the county are likely to vote in his favor.
Lenku already enjoys support from both the majority and minority leaders in the county assembly.Majority of elected MCAs from both Jubilee and ODM are backing him.
