Jalango declares bid for Nairobi Senate seat

A meeting held on Sunday resolved to have Langata MP Felix Odiwour, popularly known as Jalango, shift his politics from the constituency to eye the Nairobi Senate seat.

Tusker rally past Ulinzi to reach FKF Cup semifinals as Nairobi United bow out Football

Red hot Omanyala to orchestrate Kenya's 4x100m charge at World Relays today Athletics

Lands Principal Secretary Nixon Korir is said to have convened the meeting that brought together Jalango and his former rival and South C MCA Ibrahim Abbas Khalif.

There have been fears that Abbas’s ambition of upgrading from County Hall to Parliament will complicate the Broad-Based Government’s grip of Nairobi politics given that both are supporters of President Ruto.

With the blessing of President William Ruto, PS Korir, who is himself a former Langata MP, asked the two to find a working formula that won’t antagonise Ruto’s supporters in Nairobi.

Korir convinced Abbas to support the MP in his senatorial ambition with Jalango as well mobilising support for Abbas to take over from him.

And on Tuesday morning, the Langata MP went on the radio and announced his potential bid to take on ODM secretary general Edwin Sifuna.

Speaking during an interview on Radio 47’s breakfast show, Jalang’o said his decision to seek the seat is personal and driven by his political experience and engagement with Nairobi residents.

The first-term MP insisted that his bid for Senate was not influenced by external forces, including President Ruto, but was his own decision, having surveyed the political environment of the city.

“Nawania kiti cha senator...Mimi huamua na naendea. Mimi nakuambia naweza kuwa gavana wa Nairobi, na naweza kuwa seneta wa Nairobi, na naweza kuwa mbunge wa Lang’ata, na naweza kuwa mbunge wa pahali popote hapa Nairobi. Maana nimetembea, nimesikia, nimewaongelesha… why not? Nitaendea!”

(I make my decisions and I go for them. I’m telling you, I can be the Governor of Nairobi, I can be the Senator for Nairobi, I can be the MP for Lang’ata, and I can be an MP anywhere here in Nairobi. I’ve moved around, I’ve listened, I’ve spoken to people, so why not? I will go for it!)” Jalango told his hosts, Emmanuel Mwashumbe and Alex Mwakideu.

Last December, MCA Abbas sought to make a statement on the seriousness of his bid after he sponsored a football tournament that culminated in a finals held at Ulinzi Stadium in Langata, where the winning team got a minibus while the second and third runners-up were awarded with a van and probox, respectively.