Gideon hints at a super alliance for 2022 elections

Kanu chairman Gideon Moi has hinted at plans for a political alliance ahead of the 2022 General Election.

The Baringo senator, who was at a Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) sensitisation meeting at City Park, Nairobi, yesterday, said he is ready to work with like-minded leaders to form what he terms a super alliance ahead of 2022 polls.

Gideon said there are plans to field one candidate. “We are now building support for the BBI but when the time comes, we will work towards having one bullet,” Gideon said.

Succession politics dominated the meeting where various leaders voiced their support for the constitutional changes proposed in BBI, and which are expected to lead to a referendum next year, as well as for Gideon’s bid for the presidency.

Tiaty MP William Kamket said Kanu will field a presidential candidate and urged Nairobi residents to support Gideon. He also urged city residents to register as Kanu members ahead of the next elections.

“Kanu will have a candidate and that person will be Gideon,” Kamket said.

His comments were echoed by Laikipia County Kanu chair Maina Njenga who said the national party chair is the best bet for the presidency.

Former Makadara MP Reuben Ndolo urged Central and Rift Valley counties to support Gideon, arguing he was best placed to win the top seat.

Ndolo told the Baringo Senator that he stood a better chance to win the election if he worked with other leaders.

Meanwhile, the leaders observed that the county has, for the last 20 years, found itself on the edge due to contested elections. They argued that BBI will solve the problem once and for all. This will present the country with an opportunity to heal from perennial animosity occasioned by-elections.

“These changes will give every Kenyan an opportunity to lead and be represented,” Gideon said.

He urged the young people to support the changes saying the proposals will ensure more resources are channelled to them.

Gideon also said proposals in the Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) Bill 2020 guarantee gender parity. “I thank President Uhuru Kenyatta and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga for coming together to prevent this country from burning,” he said. Gideon hinted the referendum will be held by June next year, reiterating that BBI seeks to ensure Kenyans live peacefully.

Nairobi Senator Johnson Sakaja lauded the BBI proposals saying Nairobi County will get Sh25 billion each year and urged residents to support planned changes.

“The BBI will also ensure Nairobi remains as a county, run by elected leaders and not the national government. We objected to earlier proposals to have Nairobi County functions taken over by the national government and ensured it remains a county,” Sakaja said.

Sakaja urged Gideon to work with other leaders, including Raila, Musalia Mudavadi of ANC, Wiper’s Kalonzo Musyoka and Moses Wetangula of Ford-Kenya, and agree on the way forward for 2022.

Also, Sakaja said the Senate will give Nairobi’s impeached governor Mike Sonko a fair hearing.

Former Nairobi County Assembly Speaker Beatrice Elachi supported the proposal to have Nairobi remain as a county.

Also present were Nairobi Woman Rep Esther Passaris, Nominated Senator Abshiro Halakhe and Habib Omar Kongo, the former official of the defunct Nairobi City Council.