HERMAN MANYORA: Selection panel good, must look beyond numbers

The panel looks representative enough to deliver a credible candidate for deputy president in the August 9 general election.

Members such as Bishop Peter Njenga, Archbishop Zacchaeus Okoth, Sheikh Ahmed Khalifa and Dr Noah Wekesa are names you can depend on. These are serious Kenyans.

Wekesa was instrumental in the formation of coalition parties. He was a key figure during the formation of the Party of National Unity, which propelled former President Mwai Kibaki to State House. He is crucial to the team.

But someone like Senator Enoch Wambua should not be on the panel. He is serious but is also partisan. We don't need people like him there. He has been leading the “No Kalonzo! No Raila!” campaign. That's uncalled for. 

The four – Njenga, Okoth, Wekesa and Sheik Khalifa - are good. I don’t need to know anyone else. If they are four out of seven, then I am okay with the committee. Those four are solid, especially Wekesa. This is his cup of tea.

The committee must look at the realities of the game. Of course, everybody is talking of numbers but if you are guided by numbers alone, you lose the bigger picture, the objective. That's the overall victory of ODM leader, Azimio candidate and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga.

This victory is  not possible if you lock out President Uhuru Kenyatta, ostensibly because he is not bringing in the numbers the way some people think he should.

To me, he brings the goodwill to the table. That goodwill is more than a million votes. Uhuru brings an assurance to a big section of Kenyans that things are okay and will be with Raila and his runnig mate.

They should look not just at the numbers — which I call the hardware — but also the software, the goodwill that comes with all Kenyans being on board but, more particularly, the community that Uhuru represents.

They need to be assured that things are okay. That assurance will come if Uhuru has a say. The other parts of the country are  assured through Raila Odinga.

The political analyst spoke to the Star

(Edited by V. Graham)

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