•Kega said the Azimio coalition would be using campaign turnout as a yardstick to measure Raila’s popularity.
• He said Raila has secured considerable support from his strongholds and with the Mt Kenya region fully backing his bid, he will be the next president.
Azimio presidential candidate Raila Odinga will get more than 50 per cent of Mt Kenya's votes, Kieni MP Kanini Kega has said.
He said the overwhelming support Raila and his running mate Martha Karua have received during their recent one-week trip to Mt Kenya was a clear indication the region had endorsed an Azimio la Umoja-One Kenya leadership.
“We are happy with the Mt Kenya trip that Baba [Raila] and Martha made to the Mt Kenya region. We are happy with the numbers in Nyeri, of course they were overwhelming, especially in areas where in the past you would not get reception," Kega said.
"We are at an average of 49 per cent to 50 per cent and that tells you that Baba is winning with a margin of more than 50 per cent.”
The MP, who is the Jubilee Party director of elections, was speaking in King’ong’o, Nyeri county.
The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission final voters’ register shows that Mount Kenya and Rift Valley regions have the highest number of registered voters.
Rift Valley, which has 14 counties, has 5.3 million registered voters, while the 10 counties that form the Mount Kenya region have 5.7 million voters
Whereas the IEBC final voter register has 22.1 million registered voters, to win the election, presidential candidates are required to garner more than 50 per cent of the total number of votes cast.
They are also expected to get at least 25 per cent of votes in 24 counties out of the 47 counties.
Kega said the Azimio coalition would be using campaign turnout as a yardstick to measure Raila’s popularity. He exuded confidence Raila will clinch victory in the first round of voting.
He said Raila has secured considerable support base from his strongholds of Nyanza, Western, Coast, Eastern, Northeastern and Nairobi, and with the Mt Kenya region fully backing his bid, he will be the next president.
“This time round it will be a wrap because the rest of the country is giving their vote to Baba. The traditional voting blocs of Raila and now us in Central have agreed to come out in our numbers and ensure Baba clinches the presidency,” he said.
On corruption, Kega said Raila is the only presidential candidate who has demonstrated his commitment to the fight against graft.
“As the chairman of the budget committee, I can tell you that unless we stop corruption, all the other promises that the presidential candidates are making are not going to be met because they need funding. They are only going to be funded if we stop corruption and money is directed to programmes,” he said.
“There is no way we are going to avoid borrowing or save for the country’s future if public resource wastage is not checked. The only person who has committed through his history, manifesto and public pronouncement is Raila and that is why we have decided to combine forces and back his presidential bid.”
The Kieni legislator also defended President Uhuru Kenyatta’s move to publicly pronounce his support for Raila.
He said the President only wants the country to be in the hands of the right crop of leaders.
Kega said the President is best placed to advise on the person most suitable to succeed him, given that he has had illustrious work experience with both Raila and Deputy President William Ruto.
“You have heard the President saying that he is the only person who knows the two [Raila and Ruto]. The President is in an advantageous position to tell Kenyans who among them is best suited to lead this country,” he said.
The MP said even during Uhuru's meeting with religious leaders from Central Kenya, he told them why he parted ways with Ruto.
"The future has everything to do with the past. If you have not been a good person in the past then there is no way you are going to be a good person in the future,” Kega said.
Edited by A.N