Azimio La Umoja One Kenya coalition leader Raila Odinga’s chief agent in the 2022 General Election, Saitabao Ole Kanchory, in his new book released on April 12 dubbed ‘Why Baba is Not The 5th’ explains why the opposition chief lost the presidential bid.
Kanchory says disorganization and internal brawls in Raila’s campaign team are the factors which made him lose the presidential bid.
Moreover, Kanchory calls the August 9 polls that saw William Ruto declared president-elect a “tragicomedy” on Azimio’s part.
According to Kanchory the Azimio team lost the presidential bid due to lack of a proper strategy and organization in his campaign team.
“Elections in Kenya are won nor lost; they’re taken. Baba gave it away. He won, yes, but he gave it away. Presidential elections are there for those who are prepared to take it. There has never been an election in Kenya in the last nearly 20 years that has been won, all of them have been taken,” Kanchory stated while speaking during an interview with KTN News.
Kanchory further states that Azimio outfit assumed they were the automatic winners of the elections.
He blamed Raila Odinga and his running mate for the 2022 elections Martha Karua for being out of touch with the finer details of the presidential campaign and allowing a disorganized team to handle matters.
“Not once did Baba and Martha personally join our deliberations whether as national chief agents’ team, at the command center or called to inquire the process,” Kanchory says in the book.
He further notes that the only time they had a sit-down with the candidates was during the Supreme Court petition process.
Furthermore, he mentions former ICT Cabinet Secretary Joe Mucheru, former Interior Principal Secretary Dr Karanja Kibicho, and former President Uhuru Kenyatta’s brother, Muhoho Kenyatta, among the people who are to blame for Odinga’s loss.
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While acknowledging that the command center was iven more than enough resources, Kanchory says, it was “hijacked” and there was a push-and-pull on who would control those resources and the resources were not applied to good effect.
“It is not that the command centre was not given resources but the national chief agents team of five; me, Oduor Ong’wen, Dr Caroline Karugu, Prof Isaiah wa Kindiki and Paul Mwangi, was kept out of the command center,” the former chief agent writes.
“Azimio team casually squandered the tremendous goodwill it enjoyed from Kenyans.” He stated.
Nonetheless, Kanchory partly takes blame for the work of Raila Odinga’s campaign machine. He however mentions during his interview with KTN News that he tried to salvage the situation but failed.
“If I had been given a bit of a free hand in terms of being allowed to carry my roles as the chief agent, I would have delivered Baba to State House,” he told the broadcaster.