President Uhuru Kenyatta may lose to veteran politician Raila Odinga in 2017 polls but will not hand over power, observes Prof Nyachieo Bogonko.
Kenyatta and Odinga have been at loggerheads with the most recent being a stalemate over IEBC commissioners whom Odinga accuses of partiality, a move that has triggered ugly demonstrations across the country.
But the political scientist and historian in an exclusive interaction with the reporter on Tuesday said that the current state of economy may deny Uhuru an outright victory in 2017 polls.
“I think ever since Jubilee took over, Kenya has been struggling to stabilise its economy. External borrowing is at its peak while corruption is the order of the day government institutions. I think the government has lost ground,” he said.
“My genuine opinion is that now Kenyans have tested Uhuru regime and gone through economic struggles which defines a nation, majority of them may vote an alternative and that could be Odinga because he remains the most popular political figure,” he added.
Bogonko though expresses his ‘disappointment’ that people surrounding President Kenyatta may not be able to let the presidency go and the situation may escalate leading to an international intervention.
“Sometimes you don’t need rocket science to know Kenyan politics. If Raila wins because it’s likely, Uhuru may not let it go because of pressure from people addicted to presidency," said Bogonko.
"This could lead to a serious crisis that may call for international intervention much of what happened in Ivory Coast sometimes back,” he said.