Kitui Senator Enoch Wambua has finally broken his silence after missing the Azimio La Umoja One Kenya Alliance running mate selection panel presser sparked speculation.
Wambua who was fronted to the panel to represent the Wiper party and ostensibly the interest of his leader Kalonzo Musyoka was conspicuously missing as the panel Chair Noah Wekesa delivered an update on the selection process.
When contacted, Wambua confided to a local daily that he missed the presser to be present in the Senate because a school from his county was visiting parliament.
He, however, declined to divulge the details of the verdict of the selection panel promising to do so later on.
“There is a visiting delegation of students and teachers in the Senate from a school in my county. These kids would really have been disappointed not to hear from their senator on the floor of the Senate,” he said.
But the presser being a matter of a few minutes, in fact, it did not last more than 1o minutes, could Wambua be having a deeper reason?
Noah Wekesa revealed that Wambua was last with them on Wednesday and presumed that he had left them to focus on his campaigns given that he is a candidate.
However, Kenyan Report has learnt that the panel has settled on Narc-Kenya leader Martha Karua, former Gatanga MP Peter Kenneth and Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka— in that order — as the most preferred to deputise the flagbearer, Mr Odinga, in the August 9 elections.
When asked this, Mr Wekesa maintained that it was speculation.
Wekesa stated that the names will not be made public at this moment. He stated that Raila will release the three names after which he will pick one person who will be his running mate.
“The panel has recommended three names which have been submitted in order of priority,” Dr Wekesa stated.
Dr Wekesa stated that they used criteria which were centred on constitutional qualifications, understanding of government, the personality of the candidates, political acumen, compatibility and loyalty including strategic significance in the fight against corruption.
The candidates were also asked to give the panel their understanding of the key challenges facing Kenya and their proposal on what should be done to address these issues.
Emphasis was laid on electability, the capacity for votes, mobilization, transformative leadership, dependability, political tolerance and technical expertise in political campaigns.
