The governor of Kajiado has joined the ODM, and more than ten MCAs have joined him in the last week.
•Lenku defected to the ODM after it was revealed that he was being denied the ticket.
•The governor promised to deliver 20 of the county’s 25 MCA seats.
The defection of Kajiado Governor Joseph Ole Lenku to the ODM may prevent Jubilee from fielding candidates in various positions.
After the alleged strong aspirants followed Lenku to ODM in a last-minute effort to outwit some officials keen to keep the governor out of his re-election bid, the party may also field weak candidates or losers.
On Thursday last week, Lenku, a close ally of President Uhuru Kenyatta, defected to ODM after it was revealed that he had been denied the ticket.
One of the conditions was that he replace his Deputy Martin Moshisho with a running mate from the Mt Kenya community living in Kajiado, despite Lenku’s concerns that the move would spark a backlash from the host community.
It may antagonize his populous Matapato base in Kajiado Central, where his deputy is from, as well as face opposition from the ten Ilmeirish age group, which is crucial to his re-election bid.
According to The Star, Jubilee may be without candidates for more than ten MCA seats after sitting members who had paid their nomination fees defected to Lenku.
The first casualties are the Imbirrikani and Nkaimurunya wards, which are represented by the majority leader and majority whip Julius Moipai and James Waichanguru.
Jackson Mpaada (Iloodokilani), James Ntaati (Dalalekutuk), Hosea Toshi (Matapato South), Leng’ete Kamete (Rombo), and Mpete Meshuuda are other sitting MCAs who applied for the Jubilee ticket and have now paid for ODM (Kuku).
