Biggest political losers of 2022

In every contest, there definitely must be a winner and a loser. And on August 9 general election, we had people who fell on both sides.

It is, however, correct to say that in an election period there are usually many losers compared to winners.

For instance in Kenya, we only have 1,882 elective positions but you find more than 15,000 individuals seeking to fill these positions.

Once the election is done and the 1,882 slots are occupied, the remaining more than 13,000 candidates remain losers.

The Star picked some of the losers who had big stakes in the August election.

Retired President Uhuru Kenyatta, Raila Odinga and Martha Karua

Raila Odinga was President William Ruto’s challenger and he came in second with 6,942,930 votes against Ruto’s 7,176,141 votes.

Many had hoped that he would clinch the presidency in his fifth bid at becoming the country’s number one.

Raila vied despite having publicly said that his fourth attempt was his last.

Former President Uhuru Kenyatta following his fallout with Ruto who was his deputy had decided to back an Odinga presidency. It was believed that his government fully backed the former Prime Minister.

He even took the role of the Azimio-Oka chairman in the run-up to the polls and extended his role as leader of the Jubilee party for five years, but Kenyans had other plans in mind. They elected Ruto.

Karua was Raila’s deputy pick in the Azimio ticket. She would also be assigned the Justice docket in the Cabinet.

Kalonzo Musyoka

The Wiper leader had backed Raila in the previous elections—2013 and 2017, where he was the running mate pick.

In 2022, Raila picked Karua, a move that saw Kalonzo announce that he was vying for the presidency and had even picked his running mate.

After weeks of talks spearheaded by Uhuru, he settled for the position of chief minister, which he would have gotten if Raila had won the presidency.

Hassan Joho, Charity Ngilu and Wycliffe Oparanya

These three were governors. Joho and Oparanya had served two full terms, while Ngilu had served one term.

Raila asked to work with them in the national government and had already allocated them cabinet slots.

Joho was to become CS Lands, Ngilu (Health) and Oparanya (Finance).

Jeremiah Kioni

The Jubilee secretary general stuck with Uhuru’s choice for president despite things in the Mt Kenya region looking shaky for all who backed Raila.

This cost him his Ndaragwa MP seat. He subsequently lost in his bid to represent Jubilee in EALA.

Cleophas Malala

After having a steady rise to become one of the biggest political brands in Kenya, Malala’s bid to become Kakamega governor flopped.

This was after he lost the election to ODM’s Fernandes Barasa.

In 2013, Malala joined politics and was elected an MCA in Kakamega. In 2017, he was elected Senator of Kakamega county and in 2022 he still set his eyes higher, but that was not to be.

However, given his close relationship with President Ruto, he could still find himself somewhere in his government.

Kipruto Arap Kirwa

The former Agriculture minister, despite having worked with Ruto’s side United Democratic Alliance for months, suddenly switched sides and joined the Azimio.

He hoped it was the side that was going to form the government and would find himself somewhere within it.

Uhuru’s Cabinet secretaries

Several former President’s CS had backed Raila with the hope that they would be retained in government if he won the presidency.

Some even publicly traded jabs with Ruto, then deputy president, accusing him of lying to Kenyans.

For select CSs, it was clear that they still had a place in Raila’s government for instance Peter Munya who was in charge of the Agriculture docket.

It was believed that Fred Matiang’i (Interior) Joe Mucheru (ICT), and Keriako Tobiko (Environment and Forestry) would be retained, among others if Raila won.