• Otieno said he is not in any way rivaling the Nyanza political kingpin Raila Odinga.
• He asserted that he may not be qualified to become president yet but is more than qualified to work as a deputy president.
Image: JOSIAH ODANGA
Lawyer and former deputy presidential candidate Willis Otieno on Saturday urged his Luo kinsmen to strategise for a win-win political outcome in future presidential races.
The man famed for the 'pinky pinky ponky' phrase during the presidential petition at the Supreme Court last year, said it is for the same reason that he has positioned himself, wanting to become a deputy president of Kenya.
Otieno said he is not in any way rivaling the Nyanza political kingpin Raila Odinga.
"Raila is our father and I respect him a lot that is why I worked as his campaign manager in 2017. However, for us to have a win-win outcome of the presidential race, we can have Raila go for president as I go for the deputy president," he said.
Otieno asserted that he may not be qualified to become president yet but is more than qualified to work as a deputy president and raise the caliber of that office higher than where some office holders have put it.
Politics is the art of serving the interests of a people thus we need to think beyond the day when Raila will not be actively involved, he said.
"As Luos, our plan A is Raila. What about the day when he won't be there?" he asked.
He noted that Luos are already steering the politics of the four Nyanza counties, a situation that will most likely remain so for eternity.
However, he said, Luos should not miss out at the national political stage.
"That is why I joined Safina party and deputised my good friend Jimmy Wanjigi," Otieno stated.
Going by the numbers of registered voters in the country, Otieno stressed on the need for Luos to cooperate with other Kenyans from the Central Kenya region.
Even President William Ruto, he observed, triumphed in the 2022 presidential poll simply because of the central Kenya voters who overwhelmingly cast their ballots in his favour.
Otieno was speaking at an Annual General Meeting of the Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) held at Siaya ATC.
The lawyer called on the teachers to compound his ideological proposition in the various villages that they hail from.
"Teachers, pick up this message so that even when Jakom (Raila) won't be on the ballot, then we Luos will have a well calculated option," he urged.
Otieno spoke at a time when the Raila succession politics is gaining momentum in Nyanza.
Some of the leaders whose names have come up as possible successors of the political enigma include MPs Babu Owino (Embakasi East), Opiyo Wandayi (Ugunja), Governor Gladys Wanga (Homa Bay) and former governor Evans Kidero (Nairobi).