Forget all the rumours, this is exactly how RAILA lost the presidency to RUTO after Azimio was hit with confusion.

 Tuesday, August 16, 2022 – Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga failed to clinch the presidency for the fifth time after he was beaten by his archrival, and Deputy President, William Ruto in a declaration that was made yesterday by IEBC Chairman Wafula Chebukati.

However, Raila’s loss has been attributed to the confusion in the Azimio La Umoja One Kenya, his political vehicle.

According to political pundits, Raila failed to recognize glaring errors and blunders that would eventually derail his ambition.

A day before the August 9 General Election, opinion polls showed that Raila was heading for a first-time win, trouncing his main competitor, William Ruto.

But on the ground, Azimio – which President Uhuru Kenyatta is among the top leaders – failed to catapult Raila to State House.

Among the things that failed Raila are;-

Political Parties Pull Out of Azimio – Political Parties like Maendeleo Chap Chap of Alfred Mutua and PAA of Amason Kingi pulled out of Azimio after being sidelined and joined Ruto’s Kenya Kwanza.

The Running Mate Debacle – Before settling on Narc Kenya’s Martha Karua as his running mate, Raila Odinga was engaged in a pull and push with several leaders who wanted to be picked to deputise him, among them Wiper Leader Kalonzo Musyoka. This prompted Kalonzo not to deliver 100% votes from Ukambani to Raila.

Flawed Messaging – While Azimio had a well-planned campaign roadmap, the messaging throughout the period did not resonate with most of the voters, unlike Kenya Kwanza which had synchronized its messaging to ensure that it resonated with the voters of every region it campaigned in.

Mobilisation of Voters – According to political analysts, Azimio had better chances of winning the presidency in round one by a huge margin but tactical failure in mobilisation of voters saw Raila fail to clinch the presidency for the fifth time.

On the other hand, Ruto’s Kenya Kwanza capitalized on a grassroots mobilisation by doing door-to-door campaigns in areas perceived as his strongholds, including Mount Kenya and the Rift Valley.

Failure to Deploy Enough Agents – The push and pull in Azimio saw Raila fail to deploy enough agents at polling stations thus costing him the presidency.