Raila says he's not engaging in early campaigns, only popularizing 'Azimio la Umoja'

ODM leader Raila Odinga has dismissed claims that he has been engaging in early campaigns, citing that his recent tours of the country have only been a means to popularize his Azimio la Umoja philosophy.

By gauging the philosophy’s reception among Kenyans, Odinga argues, he will be able to determine his following, before making a final decision on whether or not he wants to run for the presidency in next year’s polls.

“You guys have been around and you have heard what people say. We have been asking the people of Kenya what they want, whether they want us to continue or not that cannot remotely be interpreted as an early campaign,” Odinga said at ODM headquarters in Nairobi on Tuesday.

Odinga said Kenyans will definitively know where his political aspirations lie after ODM delegates meet on December 9, 2021.

The ODM leader similarly called on the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) chairman  Wafula Chebukati to single out delegates he claims are conducting early campaigns and to stop making accusations.  

“It is very different from what the other people have been doing. I don’t know why the IEBC chairman cannot call a spade a spade because of this principle. It is hypocrisy, he is just actually leading the country astray. Go on and tell Chebukati to name the people,” Odinga argued.

Chebukati has been accused by some factions allied to Odinga of being biased towards the ODM leader’s camp. On November 9, 2021 Chebukati asked Cabinet Secretaries to refrain from making their political positions known, stating that by doing so, they would compromise the impartiality of the offices they currently hold.  

Odinga’s allies however argued that the stance by Chebukati is swaying towards Deputy President William Ruto’s camp who is allegedly conducting campaigns contrary to the poll’s authority decree.