By The Weekly Vision Team
Veteran Nairobi politician Maina Kamnda is about to make a major political comeback in city politics ahead of the 2027 elections, sources say. Mr Kamanda, who was a fierce opponent of William Ruto before the last general elections, had chosen to step back from active politics after his Azimio coalition was defeated in the last election by President Ruto, opting for a sabbatical.
It has been more than a year since Mr. Kamanda made any public appearances. Rumours suggest that he has deliberately taken a hiatus to engage in self-reflection, pondering his political career and contemplating the prospects that await him in the future. During the last elections, he initially intended to vie for the Nairobi Senatorial seat but later opted to withdraw from the race after being urged to do so by the Jubilee Party to back ODM’s Edwin Sifuna. Reliable sources indicate that he was promised a top government job had Mr Odinga emerged victorious.
The apparent disagreement between Bishop Margaret Wanjiru and the Kenya Kwanza administration seems to have provided an opportunity for Mr Kamanda to stage a comeback and compete for the senatorial seat in Nairobi. Experts suggest that given the strained relationship between Bishop Wanjiru and Kenya Kwanza, coupled with her unsatisfactory performance in the last elections against Senator Sifuna, the UDA might view Kamanda as a more proficient candidate than Bishop Wanjiru.
In the last elections, Sifuna garnered 716,876 votes against Wanjiru’s 554,091, and to show just how unpopular she was, Johnson Sakaja garnered 699,392 votes. It means 145,301 UDA supporters voted for Sakaja but did not vote for Wanjiru. Another avenue where Kamanda can easily make a political comeback is contesting for the Starehe parliamentary seat. Starehe is one of the seats where UDA is plotting to recapture the seat from Azimio. However, the two UDA aspirants, Simon Mbugua, failed to deliver the seat to UDA. Jubilee’s Amos Mwago won by 50,787 votes against Mbugua’s 35,548 votes, a difference of 15,239 votes.
Taking into account Kamanda’s considerable political influence and support, not only in Starehe but also across the city, running for the Starehe parliamentary seat is likely to secure his political future.
