A section of political figures from the former Western Province have revealed that they are finalising plans to front a single presidential candidate from the region to contest in the 2017 general elections.
Led by former ODM Secretary General Ababu Namwamba and Sirisia MP John Walukhe, the group calling itself the Third Force said they have conducted talks with ANC leader Musalia Mudavadi, Ford Kenya leader and Cord co-principal Moses Wetang'ula as well as former Lugari Member of Parliament Cyrus Jirongo.
“We have met Mudavadi and all of us are in agreement we are neither joining Jubilee nor going back to Cord. As a community, we must assert our numerical strength and rally behind one of our own,” Walukhe said on Friday.
They said that their aim was to establish a strong base support in the grassroots and gain political numbers for a formidable alliance in the coming elections.
Mr Walukhe insisted that their vision of fronting a presidential candidate in the next elections would stand unwavered, further saying that they would never give attention to those opposed to their course.
“As leaders from Western Kenya, and the whole Mulembe nation for that matter, we must be on the ballot in 2017, there is no doubt about it,” he said.
On a different occasion, ANC party leader Musalia Mudavadi said that the Luhya community deserved ‘to be the government and not in government’, adding to the general feeling that the region would get into the elections under one umbrella.
“The prevailing sentiment within the community is that of forming government and being in government as advanced by some leaders,” Mudavadi said from Philadelphia during his time at the Democratic Party National Convention.