'Don’t settle for less!' Wanjigi tells Luos

Safina Party leader Jimi Wanjigi has asked the Luo community not to settle for anything less than the presidency or deputy president seat in the 2027 general elections.

Mr Wanjigi has also urged the community to take a firm stand on their irreducible minimums in any of coalitions it will join ahead of the next polls.

Speaking in Migori County, Mr Wanjigi said the community must form the next government just like other communities.

“If we cannot get the presidency, then let it be the one of the deputy president,” Mr Wanjigi said when he attended a church event at Ogengo Seventh Day Adventist Church in Nyatike Constituency.

The soft-spoken politician used the opportunity to criticize the Kenya Kwanza administration.

He took issues with President William Ruto’s travels and claimed that the head of state had fallen short of fulfilling the many campaign pledges that he promised Kenyans, especially those in the lower class, whom the president called hustlers.

“We have an absentee president. Someone who is sitting on the throne knows that this is a sinking ship. So he is always travelling. You hear today he is here, tomorrow he is there in Europe. Let me tell you, that man has given up already,” Mr Wanjigi said.

He was accompanied by governors Ochilo Ayacko (Migori), Anyang Nyong’o (Kisumu), National Assembly Minority Leader Opiyo Wandayi, Nyatike Member of Parliament Tom Odege among other leaders.

Unlike in September 2021, when he received a hostile reception in Migori as he drummed up support for his presidential bid, Mr Wanjigi was warmly welcomed and embraced this time around.

Governor Ayacko told Mr Wanjigi to keep on traversing Migori with ODM leader Raila Odinga’s blessings.

“There was a time you visited this area and a few people harassed you. They did so because they were not sure that you were walking with Baba Raila Odinga but now they know. I also talked with him and he told me you are his good friend and so are the people of Migori,” Governor Ayacko said.

Mr Wanjigi is seeking to rejuvenate his political ambitions and has been reaching out to opposition leaders for a possible deal ahead of the 2027 elections.

Before he toured Migori, he met with ODM leader Raila Odinga and briefed him about his visit.

Mr Wanjigi confirmed to Nation that they met in Malindi, where they discussed the current state of the nation and Mr Odinga’s African Union Commission (AUC) chairmanship among other issues.

The Malindi meeting was the first Mr Wanjigi was holding with Mr Odinga since they last met for a “lunch date” in January.

The meeting at a hotel in Nairobi lasted close to two hours, with both leaders remaining mum on the details.

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