Tim Wanyonyi drops out of Nairobi gubernatorial race, to defend Westlands MP seat

By Joshua Cheloti Westlands Member of Parliament Tim Wanyonyi has dropped out of the Nairobi gubernatorial race. Wanyonyi, a second-term MP was eying the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) ticket for the city’s top seat. He was the only ODM candidate to express interest for the seat, but the party was hesitant to issue him with a nomination certificate to allow for consultations with other political parties within the Azimio One Kenya Coalition. And following days of consultations, ODM leader Raila Odinga on Friday, April 22, 2022, revealed that they had agreed to hand the gubernatorial ticket to Polycarp Igathe. Other candidates in the race, Raila said, had dropped out. Tim Wanyonyi had earlier been tipped to deputize Igathe, but the position would later be handed to former Kibwezi MP Prof. Phillip Kaloki. In making the announcement, Raila said Wanyonyi will be defending his Westlands MP seat in the upcoming general election. “Other members of our coalition who had expressed the desire to be governors, one of them is Tim Wanyonyi, he has made a decision to step down from gubernatorial contest and go back MP Westlands Constituency,” the former Prime Minister said. The MP, up to Friday, had insisted that he was in the gubernatorial race, with a section of Luhya leaders in the Azimio coalition insisting that he was the right person to vie for the county’s top seat. But with the latest development, he will have to be contended with fighting out in the Westlands MP seat race. In the race, Wanyonyi will now battle former Law Society of Kenya (LSK) President Nelson Havi. Havi will be flying the UDA ticket in the August 9, 2022 poll. Both Havi and Tim Wanyonyi are lawyers. The legislator is an advocate of the High Court and chairs the ODM legal affairs committee. He has served in the National Assembly since 2013 when he was first elected.