Miguna to contest Nairobi gubernatorial by-election on Thirdway Alliance ticket

Miguna addresses supporters from Canada

By  Steve Otieno

Reporter

Nation Media Group

What you need to know:

• Thirdway Alliance Kenya praises Miguna as a champion of justice and the right choice for city's top job. 
• Party reveals that  Miguna has been their member since 2019 after he lost in the 2017 general elections.

Miguna Miguna is back to the Kenyan political landscape with his bid to fill Nairobi’s gubernatorial seat two weeks after the impeachment of Governor Mike Sonko. 

This follows his direct nomination by the Thirdway Alliance Kenya (TAK) party to run as their candidate in the forthcoming contest that has so far sparked national interest. 

With the announcement stirring up fresh controversy within the party, the exiled firebrand lawyer has confirmed his nomination.

“Yes, it is true. The march for Nairobi’s liberation is on. I strongly urge all compatriots to mobilise. Viva!” Miguna tweeted. 

Praising Miguna Miguina as a champion of justice, the party’s national chairman, Muiruru Waweru said the Nairobi by-election provided Kenyans a chance to choose the right leader. 

“It is therefore a great honour for Thirdway Alliance Kenya to unveil Dr Miguna Miguna as its candidate for this (Nairobi governor) by election. Thirdway Alliance and Dr Miguna share a common belief that Nairobi, and indeed the Republic of Kenya, can no longer be entrusted in the hands of a corrosive cartel of plunderers and a criminal enterprise,” Mr Waweru said. 

The party submitted Miguna’s letter of clearance as well as his power of attorney documents showing that the TAK National Election Committee can work on his behalf in the elections processes to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) Monday morning. 

Speaking to the Nation, the party's Secretary General, Frederick Okang’o confirmed Miguna's nomination while also revealing that Miguna has been their party member since 2019 after he lost in the 2017 general elections to the recently impeached governor Sonko.  

“We know that the candidate who will win this by election has only 15 months in office and Nairobi will need a very agile, straightforward and a person of integrity. A candidate who will be able to fix the issues of Nairobi. And Miguna just fits this description,” Mr Okang’o said. 

“He (Miguna) is very excited with the party nomination and will be speaking soon on the same matter,” he added. 

This decision, the Secretary General said was arrived at after a series of long discussions amongst the party’s leadership and members. 

Though Miguna, has since his dramatic deportation to Canada in 2018, never been allowed back to the country, Thirdway Alliance Kenya is hopeful that with his clearance by the IEBC, he will be back to contest the by election. 

Miguna’s running mate

“Our meeting with IEBC this morning was successful. They now know our candidate and today, we just presented Miguna’s clearance forms and his power of attorney documents. We hope that they will clear him quickly so that when the deadline comes, our party will have no issues,” Mr Okang’o said. 

However, Miguna’s running mate is yet to be decided on with the party already pondering over three possible candidates to fill that spot. Of the three, one is a member of the NEC and the other two, party members. 

Despite Miguna's absence from the country, the party is sure that they have chosen the right candidate and that his physical presence would not be much of a barrier in the oncoming plebiscite. 

“IEBC now has the clearance forms of our candidate and we hope he will be cleared. Once he is cleared, he will fly back to the country. We will do everything to ensure his name is in the ballot. Whether he comes or not, he will be in the ballot papers and when he wins, no one will stop him from assuming his office,” Mr Okang’o said. 

Ousted TAK party leader, Dr Ekuru Aukot expressed his joy with the party’s preferred candidate, but said that the party had never discussed Miguna’s candidature while under his leadership.

“Kenyans, don’t be misled by rent seekers and merchants in our party. While I would love to have the NRM General as our candidate, the party under my leadership never even discussed his candidature as an agenda,” he tweeted. 

Nairobi’s gubernatorial by-election has been billed as yet another battle front pitting proponents of the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) and its opponents ahead of the forthcoming referendum and 2022 general elections. 

With the deadline for political parties to bring in the names of the candidates slated for January 11, 2021, the handshake team is yet to settle on a candidate who will serve the interests of both the ruling Jubilee Party and opposition party ODM.