NAIROBI, Kenya, May 19 – The Azimio coalition gubernatorial aspirant for Nairobi ticket Polycarp Igathe says his running mate Philip Kaloki will not be swapped despite the imminent fallout with the Wiper Party.
The statement follows a recent push by Wiper to exit Azimio after the nomination of Narc Kenya leader Martha Karua as Raila Odinga’s running mate, a post Wiper leader insisted was suited for him.
“Am telling you that my ticket is Polycarp Igathe and Philip Kaloki, it was actually blessed by our party leader Raila Odinga in a mammoth rally in Kamkunji,” Igathe stated during an exclusive interview with Capital FM News.
Concerns have been raised over the status of the ticket as Musyoka who is in his way out of Azimio coalition had brokered a deal to have Kaloki deputize Igathe after Odinga got the presidential ticket in the coalition.
With Igathe remaining adamant that his joint ticket with Kaloki was stable, pundits claim he might be the recent casualty in the fallouts within the Azimio coalition.
“When the political party leaders say and agree this is the framework of operating, we who are members and contestants should align. I don’t what matter is expected to happen but as the sun rises in east and sets in west,Kaloki is the deputy governor of the people of Nairobi and we will be vying on the same ticket,” Igathe stated.
Westlands Member of Parliament Tim Wanyonyi had agreed to step down in favor of Jubilee’s Polycarp Igathe in the Nairobi Governor’s contest after a deal brokered in Statehouse.
The joint Azimio ticket for the Nairobi Governor’s seat had stirred tension in the camp, necessitating President Uhuru Kenyatta who is the Azimio Council Chairman to intervene, by summoning Governor candidates in Jubilee and ODM to statehouse.
Earlier on it had been reported that Wanyonyi was to deputize Igathe after a deal brokered by President Uhuru Kenyatta at Statehouse but he declined.
Odinga however announced that Wanyonyi will be seeking to be re-elected as the Westlands Member of Parliament.
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