Presidential candidate Raila Odinga and his running mate Martha Karua asked the coalition’s remaining supporters to ring fence the region by voting for the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) next month.
Malindi MP Aisha Jumwa and Kilifi Governor Amason Kingi who won the 2017 elections on ODM tickets are the high profile politicians who ditched the party to join Deputy President William Ruto’s Kenya Kwanza alliance.
Mr Odinga said Mr Kingi and Ms Jumwa are misleading Coast residents “who have all along supported us”.
Mr Kingi has since formed the Pamoja African Alliance (PAA) which is one of the Kenya Kwanza affiliate parties.
“Kingi started by saying that the people of Kilifi did not want ODM so he formed PAA. He later joined Azimio la Umoja One Kenya alliance but jumped to Kenya Kwanza within no time. He is an indecisive and selfish leader,” Mr Odinga told a rally in Marafa.
Mr Odinga said the governor is ungrateful “as I played a big role in ensuring he became Magarini MP in the run-up to winning the Kilifi governor position in 2013 and 2017”.
The Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Coalition party presidential candidate told the crowds that before Mr Kingi was governor, he nominated him as the Minister for East African Community affairs and later as Fisheries Minister “because of Kilifi’s blue economy potential”.
“I know you have been voting for me since 2007. Let us finish this race by voting for me as president on August 9. We will ensure our votes are not stolen as happened before,” Mr Odinga said.
“Communities in the Coast have supported me. It is time we finished this journey we started together. I ask young people to remain at the polling stations until every vote is counted. The station will serve as the final count.”
During his rallies in Marafa, Gotani and Rabai, Mr Odinga and his team urged Kilifi residents to adopt the six-piece voting strategy for the ODM candidates.
“I do not want you to make me the president with no army. I should have an army so that I am politically secure,” the Azimio chief added.
The Azimio la Umoja One Kenya alliance government, he said, would seal corruption loopholes and ensure public money is not stolen or embezzled.
Ms Karua said the Azimio government would protect public resources and deliver its manifesto to every Kenyan.
“We cannot deliver our promises without money. Our work will be to protect resources and stop corruption and misuse of funds. That is our main agenda,” she said at the meetings.
She faulted Dr Ruto for attacking President Uhuru Kenyatta in public.
“If you do not understand that you are an assistant and not a co-president, which country will you lead and call for respect? A house with no respect is divided,” Ms Karua said.
“The Kenyan Constitution does not provide for two presidents. When you are the deputy president, you become the helper of the president, not the co-president.”
Mombasa Governor Ali Hassan Joho dismissed the wheelbarrow narrative being propagated by the Kenya Kwanza team, saying young Kenyan adults are in the digital world and need to be empowered economically.
