The outcome of Kibra parliamentary by-election could cause suspicion and re-open wounds that were patched by the peace deal between President Uhuru Kenyatta and ODM leader Raila Odinga on March 9, 2018, political analyst Herman Manyora opined.
He said the truce will be shaken particularly if ODM's candidate Imran Okoth loses to Jubilee's McDonald Mariga.
Uhuru has already endorsed Mariga, who some politicians claim was brought to the race by Deputy President William Ruto, in an attempt to settle political scores with Raila.
Manyora said should Imran be defeated, ODM supporters will be furious and point an accusing finger at Uhuru, for allowing his party field a candidate in the constituency Raila has termed as his 'bedroom'.
“It will create anger in Raila’s camp, as they are likely to accuse Uhuru of betrayal for allowing his party to field Mariga,” the analyst told the Standard.
He further noted that ODM losing in Kibra could mean that the opposition outfit is losing support in the city.
“If he loses, it will be saying a lot about the state of ODM and popularity of Raila as a person. It would also confirm claims he is a great mobiliser but does not have proper campaign strategy,” Manyora said.
However, University don and political analyst Prof Macharia Munene is on record saying Kibra poll will not trouble the handshake, adding that Uhuru endorsed Mariga to demonstrate he was still in control of the ruling party and had not become lame duck.
"What the President has done is to reassure people in Jubilee that the party is there, it has not been crashed by Raila and that there should be no panic," Munene said.