[NASA principals when they held a rally in Nakuru County recently. They are set to visit North Eastern region as the campaigns kick off.] (standardmedia.co.ke)National Super Alliance (NASA) leaders will on Wednesday campaign in North Eastern Kenya as opposition seeks to stamp authority in the arid and volatile region.
Sources within the opposition told this writer the five NASA Pentagon members- Raila Odinga (ODM), Kalonzo Musyoka (Wiper), Musalia Mudavadi (ANC), Moses Wetangula (Ford Kenya) and Isaac Ruto (CCM) will tour Marsabit and Mandera counties.
The five, will however, not campaign together. Two principals will campaign in Marsabit as the others jet to Mandera.
The team in Marsabit will address roadside gatherings within the county before attending two major rallies in Marsabit and Moyale towns while the Mandera group will address rallies in Mandera and Takaba towns.
Leaders from the region elected on opposition tickets in 2013 have been shifting loyalty to President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Jubilee Party.
The latest to leave the opposition was Marsabit Governor Ukur Yatani who ditched ODM and joined newly formed Economic Frontier Party which supports Uhuru’s re-election. Yatani left alongside three other MPs.
He said at the time of his departure: “It is time the communities spoke for themselves. When we were in the opposition, we were marginalised and were not given an equal opportunity in the party because they said we had no numbers.”
Marsabit and Mandera according to political analysts are swing zones and either Jubilee or NASA can get majority votes there depending on the level of individual coalition’s campaigns and agenda for the region.
Mandera Governor Ali Roba who was elected in 2013 on a URP ticket maintains he will defend his seat on a Jubilee Party ticket.
“Mandera is still very much painted red with the Jubilee Party and I am positive it will scoop more votes in 2017 than it did in 2013,”