Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) communication director Philip Etale has told presidential hopefuls from the Luhya community to either unite and back a single candidate ahead of the 2022 General elections or stop dreaming about the country’s presidency.
Speaking in Lwandeti ward, Lugari constituency, Etale urged Amani National Congress (ANC) Leader Musalia Mudavadi, Ford Kenya’s Moses Wetangula and Kakamega County governor Wycliffe Oparanya to swallow individual pride and agree to front one among them for the country’s top seat. “But if by 2022 things will have remained as they are now, then the Luhya community should forget about the presidency,” said Etale.
The officer appealed to Wetangula to lead a constructive dialogue with other presidential hopefuls, including Mudavadi and Oparanya in order to enable the region to sponsor one candidate in 2022 presidential elections.
Etale who has publicly declared his interest in the Lugari parliamentary seat in the next elections said he was ready to support Luhya’s quest for the presidency on condition that the community rallied behind a single and serious candidate for the same.
“We should stop deceiving ourselves that we will be able to capture the presidency by fronting more than one candidate,” he said, urging youths in the region to apply for national identity cards and register as voters before the coming General elections.
Etale used the opportunity to urged Kenyans to carefully read the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) report and make an informed decision when time comes.
He said all Kenyans should read the report and make their contributions to further enrich the BBI proposals and they should not let the whole process be hijacked by the political class.