Former Kakamega senator Boni Khalwale has attacked senior western Kenya politicians who have declared their intentions to run for the presidency in 2022, telling them they are engaged in wishful thinking.
Mr Khalwale singled out Moses Wetangula, Musalia Mudavadi and Wycliffe Oparanya in his criticism, saying they are a chasing a pipedream because none of them have put in place a ‘process’ to guarantee them the presidential victory.
The former Ikolomani MP said winning the presidential election requires lobbying for support from other communities, a strategy Mr Khalwale accuses the presidential hopefuls of eschewing.
According to the outspoken politician, the presidential hopefuls have confused the presidency with community leadership, having focused their campaigns in the western region instead of reaching out to the rest of the country.
“Still, even if all Luhya voters came together and voted for one person, they cannot manage to win the presidency because they will not meet the constitutional threshold. We must, therefore, think of engaging in formation of alliances with other communities to raise our stake in the country’s politics,” he said.
Mr Khalwale said the time has come for Luhya leaders to court Kalenjin voters since their lakeside neighbours continue to let them down.
Despite being the deputy party leader of Ford Kenya, the bullfighter announced that he will support Deputy President William Ruto in the 2022 presidential contest and not his party leader, Mr Wetangula, who has declared he will go it alone in 2022.
Mr Khalwale claimed that Mr Wetangula can only win in Bungoma and Trans Nzoia counties, and with his support can he get measly votes in Kakamega County.
“How does one think that a party which doesn’t have a single MP or MCA in Nairobi can amass support across all the counties and win the presidential seat?” asked Mr Khalwale.