A Nairobi lawyer was behind the recent declaration by West Mugirango MP James Gesami’s Nyamira gubernatorial aspirations as a wider scheme to have an easy run in the parliamentary seat, a source privy to the scheme has said.
Lawyer Steve Mogaka has unsuccessfully contested for the West Mugirango seat for years and is understood to have orchestrated the pronouncement by Gesami through the MP’s proxies.
According to the source who spoke on condition of anonymity, Mogaka used close lieutenants of the two-term MP to persuade him to seek the governorship seat.
“Mr Gesami’s decision to run for the gubernatorial seat is a scheme by Mr Mogaka because the MP wasn’t ready to hung his boots from parliamentary elections. The lawyer managed to convince the MP’s political advisors who successfully persuaded him to start eyeing the coutny top seat,” said the source.
“For him to have weaker opponents, the only way was to scheme on how to get rid of Gesami and he has already succeeded. The MP wasn’t aware of the plot but all in all, Mogaka has managed to take care of his political interests,” added the source.
The source also linked Gesami's wife, Rachel to the scheme saying she is also keen to serve as First Lady for the county.
“The move was also boosted by Mrs Gesami who is also keen to have her husband serve as a governor. The deal went throw and they carried the day,” the source said.
When contacted on Sunday, Mrs Gesami dismissed the claims saying her husband reached the decision after thorough research.
“He has been in politics for a while and he did a research over the same and found it necessary to move a step ahead. It’s purely his decision,” she said.
Neither Mr Mogaka nor Gesami could be reached for comment since none responded to calls and text messages from this writer by the time of filing this story.