Why Sabina Chege has withdrawn from electoral contest
Murang'a Woman Rep Sabina Chege has abandoned her gubernatorial bid and will instead focus her energies in pushing for a Raila Odinga win in the presidential race.
Last month, her Jubilee party gave a direct ticket to former Kigumo MP Jamleck Kamau to contest the Murang'a gubernatorial seat.
Speaking at Murang'a Teachers Training College on Sunday evening, Ms Chege said she had withdrawn from electoral politics ahead of August 9. She has since been gazetted as a summit member of the Azimio la Umoja-One Kenya Alliance.
She said she had done a lot of soul searching and had come up with the position that the decision adds value to her future prospects in leadership.
Ms Chege said her decision not to contest a seat in Murang'a was partly out of the resistance she encountered the moment she said she was pitching camp in Azimio la Umoja, whose presidential aspirant, Mr Odinga, is supported by President Uhuru Kenyatta.
"Most of my supporters adamantly refused to listen to my justification of making and sticking to that choice ...They did not embrace that decision. Yet I was not coerced to do so and I did not do it out of sycophancy for President Uhuru Kenyatta," she said.
Ms Chege said she wished that area voters could cede ground and listen to her "since I happen to know some things that you do not ..."
She said she supports Mr Odinga for the presidency, Mr Kenyatta for Mt Kenya kingship and negotiator-in-chief for area people’s interests in an Odinga government, as well as the Jubilee Party.
She urged Kenyans and Mt Kenya people in particular to make wise decisions on August 9, saying a lot was at stake for the country should it be placed in the hands of undeserving candidates.
One month to rebrand
In January Ms Chege -- who has served for two uninterrupted terms -- had given the Jubilee Party one month to rebrand, relaunch and issue a clear picture of the August 9 General Election plan, failure to which she would ship out.
And in a sudden flip-flop that excited the political scene, heightening suspicions that she was ditching the President and Mr Odinga, Ms Chege had said she was not decided on what political formation to support, saying she was waiting for the Holy Spirit to show her the way.
"I'm not decided ... I might receive the Holy Spirit guidance by February and I will announce. For now, I'm looking out for the message," she said.
Ms Chege had said Jubilee's inactivity was inconveniencing aspirants.
"We cannot engage our voters, we cannot print election materials and we cannot build contest secretariats owing to the confusion in our party," she had said.
But yesterday, she said she was happy that the party was reinvigorated, held a successful National Delegates Convention and entered into a formidable coalition.
"I now call upon all Jubilee aspirants to embrace Mr Odinga as our collective presidential candidate. We should embrace him wholeheartedly and ensure we take over the government with an overwhelming majority," she said.
