Blame game begins in Azimio camp over State House race outcome

Some top members of the Azimio-One Kenya coalition are caught up in a blame game over presidential candidate Raila Odinga loss in last week’s election.

While some insiders apportion the outcome on the team’s failure to post agents in most polling stations across the country, some are of the view that over-reliance on President Uhuru Kenyatta and the so-called State machinery cost them the presidency.

Raila’s loss, some insiders say, could be blamed on the Azimio National Campaign team’s failure to contract adequate number of agents in the vote-rich  Mt Kenya region.

“Azimio team failed in some key areas of the presidential elections. They had very few agents in Central regio. They were busy looking for smaller seats and failed to manage the coalition matters well,” said an insider who requested anonymity.

Political analyst Martin Andati said that instead of Raila and his team putting in place structures to ensure a resounding victory, they were busy celebrating before the elections were won.

“It is clear that Azimio could not manage the issues of the coalition well. They never had agents in Central Kenya and where they had, they failed to guard their votes. They cannot purport the claim that their votes were stolen,” said Andati.

But the presidential campaign spokesperson Makau Mutua (pictured) denied that Azimio did not post adequate agents in all polling stations in Central Kenya.

“What happened in Central was far beyond just placing agents. How do you explain the variance of the figures on those who cast their votes for president and those who cast their votes for governor? There are no stray ballots, so where did some votes go to?” posed Mutua.

The Buffalo Law School scholar maintained that his Azimio team ran a remarkable campaign but was  let down by what he termed as a flawed process by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC). 

Lawyer Donald Kipkorir took to his social media accounts to ask questions on why agents of the other seats like the governor, senator and Woman Rep failed to sign forms on behalf of Raila’s candidature. 

“What is hurting me and all genuine friends of Raila Odinga is: There was an Azimio candidate for every seat of Governor, Senator, MP, Women Rep and MCA. They had agents to watch the voting, protect their votes and sign off their Forms yet didn’t see the need to do the same for Baba,” said Kipkorir.