Ongoro, Kwamboka agree on nominations ‘deal’
Former Kasarani lawmaker Elizabeth Ongoro could sacrifice her bid to become the next Nairobi Women Representative seat in favour of Beatrice Kwamboka ahead of the Azimio Coalition nominations, Nairobi News has learnt.
Ongoro, also a former assistant minister, who’s been on the campaign trail as she bids to make a political comeback after a decade in the cold, is now said to be considering her options with direct nomination among the cards on the table.
Ongoro a supporter of seasoned politician Raila Odinga is instead shifting her focus to campaign for the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party leader who is bidding to succeed President Uhuru Kenyatta.
“At the moment her vigorous campaigns in the city might be mistaken for campaigning for the Nairobi Women’s representative post but she is focused on popularizing ODM and Azimio in fulfilling its dreams, interest, and satisfaction of ‘Baba’ being elected as Kenya’s next president,” a source told Nairobi News.
Ongoro could have struck a deal with Kwamboka, the Senate Deputy Minority Whip because under the Azimio negotiated democracy in the sharing out of seats, ODM will retain the Nairobi Women’s representative seat currently held by ODM’s Esther Passaris.
Under the deal, it is most likely Jubilee Party will be given the nod for the Governor’s and Senator’s post on an Azimio ticket and ODM for the Women’s seat.
“If Jubilee is given both tickets which most likely, then the Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KNCCI) president Richard Ngatia and former Sports minister Maina Kamanda will be Azimio’s flag bearers for Governor and Senate respectively both from Mount Kenya while Ngatia’s running mate will be from the Luhya community who most likely will be Makadara MP George Aladwa,” the source explained.
”If Passaris gets the Azimio ticket there will be an imbalance in terms of regional representation as the three Nairobi seats will all be contested by one region and that’s why supporting Kwamboka who is from Nyanza for the alliance sounds realistic”
“Passaris is my friend, and a strong supporter of ODM but if Azimio candidate in Nairobi is going to be Ngatia and Kamanda for Senate (both Mount Kenya, the Governor’s running mate from Luhya then it’s just logical that the women Rep ticket goes to another tribe which strongly supports Azimio so that different communities have a bite of the cake in terms of distribution of posts and don’t feel left out,” she said.