Opposition leader Raila Odinga’s tour of Nyeri County on Friday has been cancelled and a new itinerary developed by his handlers.
The move comes a week after he was denied an opportunity to address the nation during Madaraka Day celebrations held in the County at Kabiruini stadium where even his presence was not acknowledged.
Mr Odinga was scheduled to be in Nyeri and Laikipia counties to campaign for his Presidential bid and later on Saturday be in Kiambu and Thika towns for political rallies.
SWING-VOTE
The aspirant ruled out reports that Mr Odinga would be unwelcomed saying Nyeri voters are tolerant and accommodative.
He added that National Super Alliance (Nasa) will get a share of votes in the region saying it is a swing-vote county.
“Mr Odinga is active in Opposition and keeps government on its toes and that is the same way he would be active as head of government. He can perform the same way President Kibaki performed though he had initially been rejected by voters but after elections he did surprises,” explained Mr Kiruta.
A youth leader, Amos Muchiri, said the Opposition leader was being misled with reports that Nyeri is a swing-vote saying some people want to ‘milk’ him financially.
“Nyeri is a Jubilee zone and I am not sure he can dare hold a rally here. It is possible he would be jeered and he has been given intelligence reports,” said Mr Muchiri.
PAY DELEGATES
He said he was privy to reports that Mr Odinga was to hold a closed door meeting at a hotel in Nyeri town where attendants would be paid an allowance of Sh3,000 each.
Efforts to get a comment from Mr Odinga’s campaign team and communication officers over the claims were futile.
“By yesterday reports were rife that attendants would be paid and the meeting would be held in a hotel or a church hall. There are people who would attend just because of the money,” claimed Mr Muchiri.
He also noted that the Nasa leader could have feared occurrence of an incident similar to that of 2007 where a woman hotelier evicted him from her hotel, Karatina Forest Lodge.
The ODM leader was accompanied by Reuben Ndolo, Mumbi Ngaru and Joseph Nyaga during the saga.