Safina Party leader Jimi Wanjigi has broken his silence for his decision to part ways with Azimio leader Raila Odinga in the lead-up to the 2022 general elections.
Speaking on Sunday, Wanjigi caimed that the key factor that contributed to the divergence in their political paths was Raila’s choice to side with former President Uhuru Kenyatta as a political partner.
Wanjigi expressed skepticism about how their partnership between Raila and Uhuru Kenyatta would positively impact the future of Kenya, especially considering the economic challenges faced by the country under Uhuru’s leadership.
“When you talk about the divisions we might have had in 2022 because you are calling him a foe, he was not a foe, he just chose a partner called Uhuru Kenyatta which I could not reconcile with in terms of how that was the future of Kenya,” he said on KTN News.
The discord, as Wanjigi narrated, surfaced shortly after the 2017 election
“This is where we had a problem and this problem started soon after the 2017 election.”
He pointed to the events of February 2018, when Raila took the symbolic oath as the ‘people’s president.’ Despite having elevated Raila to a position above the constitutional framework, the subsequent handshake between Raila and Uhuru left Wanjigi feeling betrayed.
“You need to understand the context of the people’s president. When people elevate somebody to the people’s president, he is above the principle of the land. We said the constitution is not being followed, the laws are not being followed, so the people have taken it into their own hands as they can, and elevated Raila to people’s president.”
Despite the parting of ways in 2022, Wanjigi maintained that he and Raila have maintained their longstanding friendship, which dates back to their initial meeting in 1991.
Following the separation, Wanjigi launched his own presidential bid.
His aspirations faced a setback as his party failed to meet the necessary requirements set by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to participate in the presidential election.
