The August 9th Polls are just slightly over three months away and the race to succeed President Uhuru Kenyatta whose term is coming to an end has been narrowed down to his Deputy William Ruto and Azimio La Umoja-One Kenya Coalition Party presidential flagbearer Hon Raila Odinga.
Raila currently is banking on the support and endorsement he is receiving from President Kenyatta and his Jubilee Party which has a meaningful following in Mt Kenya. He is also being supported by Wiper Democratic Movement leader Kalonzo Musyoka who is bringing in votes from the Ukambani region. The region consists of Makueni, Machakos and Kitui Counties respectively. Apart from the three counties, the Akamba community is still found in Nairobi, Tana River and Taita Taveta in significant numbers.
As it goes, the August 9 political contest has refused to detach itself from tribal lines, especially in the quest to assemble winning numbers in a presidential race. It is all about communities, and regardless of how passionate you are to cause, if you do not bring in the numbers, you will be jettisoned and this gives Raila a hard time in wishing away Kalonzo Musyoka who has a strong following in the Akamba Community votes from the three counties. In the last two general elections, he marshalled over 85 per cent of the votes to Raila Odinga.
As PLO Lumumba says “Unfortunate as it may sound, the biggest consideration for bagging the deputy presidency is latched inside tribal cocoons. He/she who brings his/her tribe to the table in bigger numbers bags it,”. So how many registered voters are being brought to the table from the Ukambani region for it to win the Deputy President slot? The three counties command up to 1,697,007 votes. These figures are very important when it comes to winning a presidential race especially when they are reliable when election day comes, a scenario Kalonzo has truly proven twice.
Below is the summary of Registered Voters in Ukambani Region Counties.
1. MACHAKOS – 690,247 Votes.
2. KITUI – 532,267 Votes.
3. MAKUENI – 474,494 Votes.
Total Registered Voters – 1,697,007.
Attached is Newspaper cut showing registered voters per county in Kenya.
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