Nairobi County seat being NEGOTIATED, Kidero NOT automatic NASA candidate

As the opposition expands and morphs into a broader coalition to take on Jubilee, the seat of governor of Nairobi City County currently held by Dr. Evans Kidero (ODM) is among the tens of high level seats being negotiated, Kenya Today reveals for the first time.

Impeccable sources high up in the CORD and NASA inner sanctums of power reveal that a draft report to guide how the coalition shares political seats removed Nairobi from the list of “non-negotiable” to that of “negotiable”, a development which has rankled city hall.

The seat, eventually, may be retained by Dr. Evans Kidero or may be given to Amani National Congress (ANC) leader Musalia Mudavadi who is not only a former local government minister but also former Deputy Prime Minister.

The entry of Mudavadi in the opposition coalition is believed to have been partly due to the dangling of the Nairobi County seat.

Dr. Kidero’s Deputy Jonathan Mueke (Wiper) has been prevailed upon by Wiper Leader Kalonzo Musyoka to contest one of the Embakasi seats currently held by a Jubilee MP but which CORD lost due to fielding multiple candidates, a mistake that the coalition has said will not be repeated later this year.

In the just concluded ODM application process, sources at Orange House told this writer no ODM member applied to challenge Gov. Kidero.

Another internal report, backed up by two internal polls sponsored by CORD reveals that Kidero may not win the popular vote for re-election due to discontent by city voters because of poor service delivery overall and the perception among CORD voters that Kidero spent the last four years pandering to Jubilee, an accusation Kidero handlers at City Hall often dismiss.

With the exit of city politician Ferdinand Waititu from Nairobi politics to Kiambu, and the many novices on the Jubilee side angling for the seat, Dr. Kidero was for the meantime almost assured  of smooth re-election.

Opposition CORD supporters have remained united in Nairobi but not because of any special contribution from Kidero. For long, the governor was either absent or silently colluding with Jubilee.

Often, Kidero’s actions almost led to fatal confrontations between CORD and Jubilee supporters, like the time CORD retained Uhuru Park for use on Madaraka Day, only for Jubilee leaning Kameme FM presenter and evangelist Lucy wa Ngunjiri to also be allocated the park.

CORD had to go to court to access the park, something many supporters have not forgiven Kidero.

Opposition critics of Kidero also accuse him of “filling City Hall with the same Jubilee sympathizers and supporters we defeated on March 4, while at the same time excluding us”, according to John Mutua, a resident of Imara Daima.

Kidero hired George Wainaina as his Chief of Staff. Several other appointments failed to reflect tribal reality of the 2013 vote.

At a time when the national government was formed in the image and likeness of two tribes, Kidero continued perpetuating exclusion of the other opposition tribes which didn’t make it to the many national government appointments.

In the end, opposition professionals felt the double loss. Many don’t want to hear anything to do with candidate Kidero. Voter apathy?

Will the Nairobi seat going to Musalia Mudavadi cure the Kidero wasted years? The verdict is out there.

The post Nairobi County seat being NEGOTIATED, Kidero NOT automatic NASA candidate appeared first on Kenya Today.