By OTIENO OTIENO

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Former Kenyan prime minister Raila Odinga formally announced his presidential bid in the 2022 polls at his new coalition’s convention on Friday, hoping the stars have finally aligned for him to win the seat at the fifth time of asking.

Mr Odinga, who has come close in each of the past three elections, also used the Azimio La Umoja convention at the 60,000-capacity Kasarani Stadium in Nairobi to pick up key endorsements from some influential leaders in different regions.

His formal entry marks the latest key moment in an intriguing election campaign in which a retiring president is supporting the opposition leader and his once bitter rival to succeed him.

President Uhuru Kenyatta, who is serving his second and final term in office, is expected to publicly endorse Mr Odinga’s 2022 bid, overlooking his deputy and running mate in the past two elections William Ruto.

Deputy President William Ruto and Mr Odinga are seen as the clear front runners in the succession race. Mr Odinga has mostly played catch-up in the early campaigns, with the Deputy President having hit the ground running almost four years ago.

But the former prime minister arrived at yesterday’s convention with wind in his sails after receiving public backing from a club of wealthy campaign financiers who built up the war chest of President Kenyatta and his predecessor, Mwai Kibaki, in the past four elections.

Besides their deep pockets, members of the club called Mt Kenya Foundation are seeking to sell Mr Odinga as a safe pair of hands who can be trusted with the economy and to secure President Kenyatta’s legacy.

The Handshake

Mr Odinga will also be counting on the influence of President Kenyatta, who hails from the Mt Kenya region, to boost his quest to chip into Dr Ruto’s popularity there or flip it.

A number of Cabinet secretaries have publicly declared their preference for Mr Odinga. But the widely held notion that Mr Odinga is the establishment candidate in 2022 is a double-edged sword.

While it is likely to put the state machinery at his disposal, it will effectively saddle his campaign with the baggage of the outgoing administration as well.

Second term

Dr Ruto has already made the Handshake, a campaign issue, playing up the administration’s perceived failures during the second term while taking credit for its perceived successes in the first term.

The ‘State project’ tag often evokes memories of President Kenyatta’s failed first bid in 2002 after then retiring President Daniel Arap Moi handpicked him to run on the ruling party Kanu’s ticket.

Ironically, Mr Odinga, who was among those overlooked by Mr Moi in his choice of a preferred successor, led the rebellion against the then rookie politician’s candidacy.

They would face off in the 2013 and 2017 presidential elections, whose outcomes were both disputed by Mr Odinga in the Supreme Court.

Their relationship appeared to have broken down irretrievably following the nullification of President Kenyatta’s re-election victory in September 2017 and Mr Odinga subsequently being sworn-in as the ‘people’s president’ in January 2018.

But they declared a surprise truce in March 2018 to end a standoff that threatened political stability and push for constitutional reforms to expand government structure to accommodate more of the grievance-mongering ethnic political elite in power coalition at any given time.

Appellate judges in August upheld a High Court decision halting a proposed constitutional referendum, popular as BBI [the Building Bridges Initiative], throwing their coalition plans into disarray.

The derailing of BBI has particularly made it difficult for Mr Odinga to woo back his former allies in the defunct National Super Alliance (Nasa) coalition, which supported his presidential bid in 2017.

The disgruntled leaders, who have moved to another coalition called One Kenya Alliance (OKA), skipped the former prime minister’s endorsement ceremony.

Bringing one or more of them under his Azimio La Umoja fold is likely to preoccupy Mr Odinga’s thoughts as he looks for the silver bullet to win the presidency on August 9, 2022.

Its political wing has in recent weeks campaigned for the former prime minister in the Mt Kenya region and its ‘diaspora’ counties in Rift Valley – a bloc with about a third of the country’s votes – which have been a hostile hunting ground for him.

President Kenyatta has so far kept off active political campaigns, saying he will do so at the right time.