MP Robert Mbui blames Kenya Kwanza for AUC loss
Kathiani MP Robert Mbui has blamed the Kenya-Kwanza government for the loss of Raila Odinga in the concluded African Union Commission (AUC) elections held on Saturday, February 15, 2025.
Speaking during a breakfast show on Monday, February 17, 2025, Mbui who is also the minority whip in the National Assembly stated that former Prime Minister Raila Odinga would have won if the Kenya-Kwanza government was not in power.
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“Maybe if it was another regime, he (Raila) would have won,” Mbui said.
The MP also opined that Ruto’s statements in past regional meetings may have come to bite him during the AUC vote.
“There are certain attitudes the way he (Ruto) has postured over the period when he was elected that may have also created bad blood. People never tell you about the bad things that you may have done but they wait for an opportunity for pay-back time,” he observed.
Regional utterances
The MP also noted that regional utterances on the ongoing conflict between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda may have played out in the vote where Kenya’s candidate lost to Djibouti.
“There are two countries of Rwanda and the DRC in conflict. At this particular point in time, Kenya should not have been seen to have taken a position; it should have been seen to be very neutral,” Mbui added, noting that some of the dynamics in the conflict may have cost the country the seat.
“DRC would attend a meeting of SADC and not attend an EAC meeting chaired by our president. In that kind of conflict, you could end up losing maybe one or both of the countries; there, I think that was a blunder,” Mbui stated.
PS Sing’oei
Mbui also indicated that the reaction of Foreign Affairs PS Korir Sing’oei on the SADC advisory which urged member-states to vote for the Madagascar candidate would have driven away some of the votes from Raila.
“Those who felt the condescending attitude of this PS would obviously vote the other way. People take offence at the kind of things that you tell them,” he added.
Sing’oei noted that the endorsement was somewhat of an afterthought and that it could not have an effect on the outcome of the elections.
“To our minds, we think that this letter is something of an afterthought; we think that it is a mere courtesy to show the minimalist solidarity extended to a member of their region,” Sing’oei said on February 14, 2025.
