Dejected aspirants now claim influential Nairobi business people are the force behind the candidature of Igathe – who has been termed by the urban forklore as the iconic Kenyan chased by top jobs.
A Nairobi gubernatorial candidate has given blow by blow the events that unfolded at State House – Nairobi early morning on Tuesday where President Uhuru while franked by ODM leader Raila Odinga asked them to step down in favour of Polycarp Igathe as the Jubilee Party candidate.
Igathe who served for a short period as the deputy of Mike Sonko before resigning saying he had failed to win the trust of the governor is the chosen one – but this time for the top seat.
Igathe has confirmed that he is ready and willing to fold up his sleeves and go to work and win the coveted Capital City seat.
The candidate who spoke to News Today on condition of anonymity arrived shortly before 9:00Am at State House only to find two of the other contestants already at the House on the Hill.
The candidate was then ushered in where the President was together with Azimio La Umoja presidential candidate Raila Odinga.
After the greetings and niceties the President disclosed the purpose of the meeting and went ahead to explain that there will be other positions including nominations to parliament for the candidate, if the candidate agreed to step down.
The candidate told the President the amount of work that and money that had been put into the campaign as well as the creation of an elaborate grassroots network that had been built over several months.
Further the candidate told the president of the difficult job the candidate had done in defending the President especially throughout the second term and expressed concern that the replacement had never been on the ground neither defended the president.
The President is said to have thanked the candidate for a job well done and that with promises of a significant appointment once Azimio La Umoja forms government and also urged the candidate to support Igathe with the already established network.
“When you support Igathe, you are supporting Baba to win. Help Igathe with your network and help him manage his campaigns, take him to the ground,’’ the President told the candidate.
The President told the candidate to go think about but also be ready for a handshake with Igathe on Thursday at State House when they will meet again.
The candidate left State House in state of confusion but promising to go and think about knew it was game over after the President who is also the Jubilee Party leader talked of a handshake with Igathe.
Jubilee Party has embraced consensus as the best mode of identifying and confirming candidates vying for various positions in the coming general elections to be held on August 9 this year in about three-month’s time.
The process has been hailed a good strategy because it is forestalling any fallout that would have been caused by a combative nomination process.
After news of Igathe having been picked up by Jubilee as the gubernatorial candidate for Nairobi, Kenyans turned to social media to wonder just how lucky the former City Deputy governor is and why are top jobs always chased after him.
They said that Igathe has now reached the realms of an urban legend as they predicted that he will easily clinch the the seat with the kind of people supporting his bid.
