The Water CS Eugene Wamalwa has been named as the Jubilee preferred candidate who will be contesting for Nairobi gubernatorial seat come 2017 general elections.
But why does the Jubilee government want Wamalwa and not any other candidate?
According to Jubilee insiders aware of the move, the major reason is that the top two leaders feel that Kidero has an influential advantage in the massive Luhya voting bloc in the city and that Wamalwa can genuinely split the vote.
" If Kidero goes under the Cord banner he will have the Luo, Luhya, and Kamba vote to himself and we know that they have huge numbers, if not the most in the city," said a Jubilee insider.
Wamalwa would, however, ensure that Luhyas in the city vote for one perceived to be their own, which would throw a spanner in the works for Kidero.
" In the 2013 election, Kidero won by a margin of around 50,000 votes and those were mainly thanks to the Luhya and Luo. If the numbers of Luhya can be reduced significantly, then Jubilee will have an easy ride home," another insider stated.