[Ababu Namwamba (left) with President Uhuru Kenyatta. Former Budalang’i MP Raphael Wanjala was endorsed by ODM party to take on him. Photo/Nation]
Ababu Namwamba’s reelection chances have suffered a setback after his former boss and mentor Raila Odinga endorsed his perennial rival for Budalang’i seat.
Namwamba’s success in politics is directly attributed to Odinga, who is said to have propelled his candidature in 2007.
The two went separate ways following internal feuds in ODM party and Namwamba has since backed reelection of President Uhuru Kenyatta.
“I brought Ababu to leadership and he has deviated from the course we started together,” Odinga said when he endorsed Raphael Wanjala on Sunday at Port Victoria.
He added: ‘I have nothing against him but we must treat him as our enemy. I trust that what I wanted to be achieved can be done by Wanjala. Let us teach him a lesson.”
During his tenure as Prime Minister, Odinga trusted the youthful MP with ministry based on his undoubted loyalty to the ODM party.
Wanjala, a former MP who lost to Namwmaba in 2007, is making a comeback on the ODM ticket and is widely expected to win in August given voting dynamics.