The elders’ council now says the Luhya will support Raila’s presidential candidature, citing recent disagreements in the Jubilee coalition.
Mudavadi, a casualty of a botched deal in Jubilee, accused fellow Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta of failing to honour an earlier deal to have him shelve his bid in his favour.
The elders’ forum resolved to rally behind the Raila presidency and vowed to consolidate the Luhya vote ahead of March 4 elections.
Community’s requests
The decision was arrived at after a daylong consultative meeting at a Kakamega hotel during which they decided to shift to Raila.
“We have listened to each other and today we want to declare that the Luhya elders forum will go the lakeside way. We feel this is the best path,” affirmed Patrick Wangamati, the forum’s chairperson.
The forum expressed disappointment with the turn of events in Jubilee, insisting that Uhuru duped Mudavadi for the top slot and this had made their options slim and that the most rational decision would be to support Raila.
“Mudavadi is our son, we were ready to support him by all means, but things have taken a wrong turn and we have to make a drastic move and give direction to the community,” said Wangamati, adding that they would have readily supported Mudavadi had the Jubilee given him the nod.
A statement released to newsrooms read in part: “The meeting has resolved that the resolution made on November 1 at Bishop Stam Pastoral Centre Shimalavandu to support one presidential candidate in the Lake Basin block still stands.”
Further the council resolved that a meeting be scheduled between the forum and Raila to lay out what they termed as “the community’s requests to the PM should he win the polls”.
But a section of elders who refused to be named, said they did not favour the resolutions, insisting they would stick with Mudavadi.
Peter Ludaava, a member of the forum’s secretariat said the elders would vet aspirants in the community to ensure only credible leaders were elected. - The Standard
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