The all-male
candidates were cleared by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission
(IEBC) in May leaving behind five aspirants who failed to meet the requirements
of contesting.
The lucky eight
include two heavyweights: incumbent President Uhuru Kenyatta and veteran
opposition leader Raila Odinga, who have gone head-to-head in the heated
elections campaign.
The other candidates
include election veteran Mohamed Abduba Dida, John Ekuru Longoggy Aukot,
Shakhalaga Khwa Jirongo, Japhet Kavinga Kaluyu, Michael Wainaina Mwaura, and
Joseph William Nthiga Nyagah.
We profile all the
candidates in no particular order.
Uhuru Kenyatta
Jubilee
Party’s candidate 55-year-old Uhuru Kenyatta is the incumbent President of
Kenya and the youngest in the country’s history when he was sworn in in 2013.
Before his election for
his first term, Kenyatta was a deputy prime minister in the Mwai Kibaki
government which had his strongest opponent Raila Odinga as Prime Minister.
After grooming by former
President Daniel Moi to become president in 2002, Kenyatta lost the bid to
Kibaki, but backed him to win the disputed 2007 elections which saw some 1,300
people killed and more than 600,000 displaced in election violence.
Uhuru Kenyatta and his
running mate William Ruto were both indicted by the International Criminal
Court in 2011 for incitement of the deadly post-election ethnic violence
against Odinga’s supporters in 2007.
The charges were dropped
against Kenyatta in December 2014 and against Ruto in April 2016 due to lack of
evidence – months/ years after winning the 2013 elections.
Uhuru Kenyatta has not
always been a politician. The shy son of the country’s first president Jomo
Kenyatta grew up in wealth from his family’s several businesses and lands.
He appeared on the
political scene after former President Moi named him as his successor in 2001.
Kenyatta gained the
support of his Kikuyu ethnic group – which is the largest in Kenya – and
squared it off with the support from the Deputy President William Ruto’s ethnic
group Kalenjin to secure him a win in 2013.
For his campaign for a
second term, Uhuru Kenyatta is riding on his achievements in job creation,
security, social policy and transportation expansion.
Raila Odinga
National Super Alliance (NASA) coalition
flagbearer Raila Odinga is not new to elections as he is contesting for a
fourth time after unsuccessful attempts in 1997, 2007 and 2013.
The 72-year-old son of
Kenya’s first vice president Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, is a veteran Kenyan
politician and notorious for crossing political camps.
He was once in the camp of
his arch-rival former President Mwai Kibaki until he fell out with him after
the 2002 elections which he campaigned actively for Kibaki.
Odinga, who is a Luo, is
unpopular among the Kikuyu ethnic group of Uhuru Kenyatta who he accused of
attacking his supporters – predominantly Luo – leading to the deadly
post-election violence in 2007.
Raila Odinga was also
accused of an unsuccessful but bloody coup attempt in 1982 against former
President Daniel arap Moi. He spent seven months under house arrest, charged
with treason and detained without trial for six years.
He was released in 1988
and re-arrested months later for anti-government agitation. Odinga was released
in 1989, arrested again in 1990, released in 1991 before he went on exile in
Norway.
He finally returned in
1992 to engage in politics under a Kenya that practiced multi-party democracy.
Mechanical engineer by
training in East Germany, Odinga was a prime minister between 2008 and 2013
under a power-sharing deal to end the post-election violence that saw some
1,300 people killed and more than 600,000 displaced.
Odinga has served as the
Member of Parliament for Langata between 1992 and 2013.
Running as flagbearer for
the National Super Alliance (NASA)
coalition, which includes all of Kenya’s main opposition groups, Odinga –
together with his running mate Stephen Kalonzo Musyoka – hopes to end Uhuru
Kenyatta’s bid for a second term.
He has accused the
incumbent of plotting to rig the elections using state security agents and
called on the youth to be vigilant on the polling day to avoid rigging.
National Super Alliance (NASA)‘s campaign is
focused around lowering food prices and rent and tackling youth unemployment.
Mohamed Abduba Dida
Mohamed Abduba Dida is
standing for president for a second time after vying in 2013.
The 43-year-old is the
only Muslim candidate and was a high school teacher, teaching English
Literature and Religion.
Dida is of mixed heritage
with mother being a Kenyan-Somali and father from northern Kenya.
The Alliance for Real
Change (ARK)
candidate – together with his running mate Titus Kusolo Ngetuny – are
campaigning for change and promotion of morality in the country.
John Ekuru Longoggy Aukot
John
Ekuru Longoggy Aukot is running for the first time as president after his
service in drawing up Kenya’s 2010 constitution.
The 45-year-old Doctor of
Philosophy in Law is the flagbearer of the Thirdway Alliance Kenya (TAK) party, that
unsuccessfully contested the 2013 elections.
He has worked in a lot of
committees in the country including the panel that selected the commissioners
at the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).
Dr Aukot and his running
mate, Emmanuel Kombe Nzai, are campaigning against tribalism and seek to end
corruption and insecurity.
Shakhalaga Khwa Jirongo
Shakhalaga Khwa Jirongo,
popular called Cyrus Jirongo, is a former Member of Parliament and nearly run
for the presidency in 2013 but opted out in the last minute.
The 56-year-old is running
as flagbearer of the United Democratic Party with Joseph Orina Momanyi as his
running mate.
Jirongo was an MP between
1978 and 1981, 1997 and 2007.
Japhet Kavinga Kaluyu
Japhet
Kavinga Kaluyu is an independent candidate running for the first time as
president.
He has lived and studied
in the United States where he gained a Doctor of Philosophy in Urban Health
Policy and Research.
Kaluyu’s running mate is
Muthiora Eliud Kariara.
Michael Wainaina Mwaura
Michael Wainaina Mwaura is
also running as an independent candidate for the first time in Kenya’s
presidential elections.
He is a former literature lecturer
at Kenyatta University.
The 44-year-old professor
hopes to invest in the youth to develop the country. His running mate is Miriam
Muthikwa Mutua – the only woman in the race.
Joseph William Nthiga
Nyagah
Joseph William Nthiga
Nyagah is the third and final independent candidate who has been a politician
for several years.
The 69-year-old is running
for president for the first time, but has served as a minister between 2007 and
2013.
Nyagah has a Masters in
Financial Management and has worked as a banker between 1973 and 1983.
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