Raila Odinga, 9 Other Big Political Losers in August 2022 General Election

• A handful of political bigshots suffered losses at the hands of their rivals who edged over them in the August 9 General Election
• ODM leader Raila Odinga lost his fifth bid to be Kenya’s president after being trounced by President William Ruto, a first-timer in the presidential race
• Others are believed to have made unviable political moves; for instance, Charity Ngilu shelved her Kitui governorship bid to focus on Raila’s presidential campaign

2022 was significant to Kenya as regards the strides that have constantly been made in terms of democracy and political liberality since independence.

On August 9, the Kenyan electorate partook in the vote that saw a political transition right from the national to the grassroots level.

The president, county governors, members of parliament, senators, woman representatives and ward representatives were elected to office, their tenures being limited to the oncoming five years.

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Spirited contests were put up in the six elective posts, with thousands losing in their bids as first-timer aspirants, and others seeking to retain their posts.

TUKO.co.ke looks at some of the political bigshots who lost in their bids, now awaiting to be in the political cold for the next couple of years.

1. Raila Odinga

The former prime minister flunked again in his bid to become Kenya’s fifth president.

Raila lost at the hands of President William Ruto who was declared duly elected after garnering over 7.1 million votes.

Trailing Ruto would be Raila who secured over 6.9 million votes.

Raila suffered yet another loss despite having the backing of the state under retired president Uhuru Kenyatta.

Ruto was inaugurated into office on September 13 after the Supreme Court threw out the petition filed by Raila to challenge the former’s win.

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2. Martha Karua

The one-time Gichugu MP in Kirinyaga county was on the verge of making history as the first Kenyan woman to lead the country second to the president.

Karua has been picked as Raila’s presidential running mate; they jointly sought office under the Azimio La Umoja One Kenya Coalition Party.

However, owing to the turn of events, Karua would be thrust into the opposition, continuing her prolonged stay out of power after serving in late president Mwai Kibaki’s government as a minister.

3. Charity Ngilu

The outspoken lay politician had had a consistent and magnificent within the trappings of power until this year’s vote when she appeared to have miscalculated her political options.

For the longest time, Ngilu had been in the circles of power, serving as a government minister in the late Kibaki and Uhuru Kenyatta presidential tenures.

Prior to joining the said governments as a minister, Ngilu served in the previous editions of parliament till the tenth one that ended in 2013.

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Even after her exit from Uhuru’s cabinet, she got relighted her political glory after winning the Kitui governorship in 2017.

She had resolved to defend the seat in this year’s vote but chose to give up the bid in favour of Joseph Malombe who made a comeback after serving as the Kitui county boss between 2013 and 2017.

Ngilu stepped out of the race to focus on Raila’s campaigns, perhaps with the anticipation that she would be handed a cabinet post.

Since the outcome of the vote, she has resorted to maintaining a low profile.

4. Wambugu Ngunjiri

The former Nyeri township MP had all the prospects to retain his seat after being elected in 2017 under the Jubilee Party ticket.

He was among the Mt Kenya politicians constituting the Kieleweke wing that defended the retired president.

Rivalling Kieleweke would be the Tanga Tanga faction, which sided with Ruto, Uhuru’s then deputy.

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With its hyped wave, the Tanga Tanga faction now under the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party swept through the Mt Kenya region, inconveniencing the Kieleweke team majority of whose members lost their seats.

Wambugu lost his seat to the UDA party’s Duncan Mathenge.

5. Kalonzo Musyoka

Formerly of the One Kenya Alliance (OKA) team, the Wiper Party leader once again featured on the losing side in the presidential contest.

Since the 2013 vote, Kalonzo has sided with Raila, their joint effort to capture the top seat failing to pay off.

Kalonzo was Raila’s running mate both in 2013 and 2017, following from the periphery in 2022.

This time, he was promised a chief cabinet post, akin to the prime minister, in the event the Azimio team formed the government.

With the turn of events, Kalonzo would again be thrust into the opposition.

The allies with whom he formed the OKA team, Musalia Mudavadi and Moses Wetang’ula, sided with Ruto.

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The Western Kenya’s duo’s calculation paid off this time, with Wetang’ula taking over the leadership of the 13th parliament, and Mudavadi being appointed the prime cabinet secretary.

6. Gideon Moi

The two-time Baringo senator lost in his bid to represent his native county in the fourth edition of the Senate.

He was first elected in 2013 on a KANU ticket, defending the seat in 2017.

The tables turned in 2022 after a UDA candidate won the senatorial seat.

7. Lee Kinyanjui

The politician had been a force to reckon with, unseating Kinuthia Mbugua to win the Nakuru governorship in 2017.

His bid to defend the seat on a Jubilee ticket flopped as UDA party’s Susan Kihika posed a more than worthy competitor after winning the governorship by a landslide.

Since losing the seat, Lee has resorted to keeping a low profile.

Kihika had served as Nakuru senator between 2017 and August 2022.

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8. John Lonyangapuo

The renowned ‘professor of applied mathematics’ did not survive the political guillotine as the West Pokot electorate shelved him in favour of the party’s Simon Kachapin.

Using a KANU ticket, Lonyangapuo unseated Kachapin in the 2017 vote.

He fell out with KANU in the course of his gubernatorial tenure, forming the Kenya Union Party with which he unsuccessfully defended his seat.

The once vocal politician has been under wraps since the humiliating loss.

9. Polycarp Igathe

The jolly first-timer in elective politics caused a frenzy in the scenes after he was unveiled as the Azimio La Umoja candidate for the Nairobi governorship race.

His antics and approach to campaigns won him supporters, but Governor Johnson Sakaja’s experience and political wit outdid his (Igathe’s).

Despite losing the vote, Igathe was hailed for his zeal in the campaigns.

The number of votes he got indicated he had put in the works despite losing at the hands of Sakaja.

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Igathe garnered 573,518 votes to trail Sakaja who won with 699,392 votes.

Source: TUKO.co.ke