Political analyst Ambrose Weda has said that Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) leader Raila Odinga is very unlikely to campaign for the party's candidate in the Kibra parliamentary race.
The Orange party has presented Imran Okoth for the November 7 race, but Weda on Wednesday said that the ex-Premier should not be expected to directly participate in Imran's campaigns.
He said the with Raila's new position as the African Union Infrastructure envoy and as a statesman, he might find it backward to engage in small things like the Kibra by-elections.
According to the former Sony Sugar board chair, this will leave a space for the likes of Deputy President William Ruto to campaign in the region uninterrupted.
"Baba (Raila) is now a statesman and no longer goes to to such places to engage in campaigns. He can no longer be seen there. Therefore, the Deputy President and Owalo (Eliud) might shake the ground," he said.
Weda spoke on KBC English Service's The Big Conversation on Wednesday morning.
Ruto is also the Deputy Leader of ruling Jubilee Party, whose flag is being flown by McDonald Mariga, in a race which also includes Owalo of the Amani National Congress (ANC).
However, Weda, also a High Court advocate, said that it will be hard to snatch the position from ODM, which has held it since the formation of the constituency by the 2010 constitution.
"But the seat is ODM's to lose," he added.
Speaking on Sunday, Ruto remained confident that Mariga will win the race, faulting ODM for branding Kibra Raila's political bedroom.
Owalo, an ex-Raila aide, has also thrown his all into the ring, hoping to fill the vacancy left after the death of immediate former area MP the late Ken Okoth who succumbed to cancer in July.
Raila acquired the statesman tag after his 2018 truce with President Uhuru Kenyatta, who was formerly his sworn political rival.