I’ve only prepared a winning speech, Raila tells media

Nasa presidential candidate Raila Odinga casts his vote at Old Kibera Primary School on August 8, 2017 during the General Election. PHOTO | JEFF ANGOTE | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Mr Odinga said he was confident of winning and that is why he did not have two speeches.
  • He said that the 2017 race was a different one compared to the last ones he had been through.

Nasa presidential candidate Raila Odinga has prepared only one speech in readiness for the outcome of the elections.

Speaking  on Tuesday at his house in Karen, Nairobi, Mr Odinga said he was confident of winning and that is why he did not have two speeches.

“I have a universal speech because I am confident that I am going to win but in the unlikely event that I lose, I don’t need a speech as I will speak from the heart,” said Mr Odinga.

He said that the 2017 race was a different one compared to the last ones he had been through.

The Nasa leader noted that  he was warming up during his first stab in 1997, while he was denied victory twice in 2007 and 2013.

LAST RACES

“The first time I ran for the presidency, it was like a warm-up match but the last two races, which were the serious ones, I won twice and I was denied victory, but this one is going to be different,” he said.

On Nasa’s parallel tallying centre, Mr Odinga said it was ready to go and chided those who raided a back-up centre in Nairobi, saying that the act was an exercise in futility as the alliance had many back-ups. “Our tallying centre is ready to go. I am sure they are looking for it to stop it like they did last time but it would be an exercise in futility. We have so many back-ups even in the clouds,” he said.

On voting, Mr Odinga said the exercise was going on smoothly but asked IEBC to look into areas which had reported hitches such as Samburu, Garissa and parts of Wajir.

RETREAT

The former Prime Minister also hit out at the electoral agency, accusing it of throwing away Nasa party agents on the pretext that their letter heads bore the Nasa name, which is not a political party.

He said he would retreat to his campaign headquarters to wait for the beginning of counting of votes. “I will take it easy. I will be at my campaign headquarters waiting to see how the exercise is going on and then at the end of it, we will wait for the tallying,” Odinga said.

He told his supporters to go to Uhuru Park later in the day after voting to wait for the counting of the votes.