Deputy President designate Martha Karua’s popularity wave continued to rage in Mt Kenya as she drew massive crowds in Nyandarua County originally thought to be the stronghold of United Democratic Alliance (UDA) led by DP William Ruto.
Karua took her Azimio La Umoja campaigns to Nyandarua where she was welcomed by jubilated crowds in all the centres where she her caravan stopped to address the people sending UDA into a panic.
After she was unveiled as the running mate for Raila Odinga who is the Azimio La Umoja presidential candidate, Karua hit the ground running and held numerous rallies covering the entire Mt Kenya region including Meru within a week.
Much to the amazement of political pundits Karua’s appointment sent a wave of excitement not just in Mt Kenya but the entire country where majority of the undecided voters according to polls followed her to Azimio.
The results were immediate because some opinion polls done after her entry into the race showed that Raila had for the first time overtaken Ruto as the most preferred presidential candidate.
Karua appears to have reversed the gains that Ruto and his brigade had done over the last 4.5 years in just one campaign week, forcing UDA back to the drawing board to see how to they can reverse the losses they are suffering daily.
“Karua entry into the presidential arithmetic as Raila’s running mate has completely changed the equation. Her ability to go to Mt Kenya to campaign for Raila and draw such huge crowds has made very easy for the people to vote for the Azimio La Umoja presidential candidate,” said Samuel Kamau a political analyst from Kiambu.
Kamau said while initially it appeared difficult to sell Raila in Mt Kenya, the battle has now been framed as between Karua and UDA’s deputy president designate Rigathi Gachagua who cannot hold a candle to the “iron lady” due to his corruption scandals he is defending in court.
He said once Karua was named Raila’s running mate, Mt Kenya shifted to Azimion because it presented an integrity card that is lacking on the other side.
Karua is also seen as her own person who cannot be compromised and because of her history of defending the rights of Kenyans and fighting reforms, she can be trusted with the job together with Raila, said Kamau.
Following Karua’s entry UDA has been forced to split its campaign teams to respond the ground that is becoming slippery as campaigns hots up.
