Aladwa slams Uhuru over claim Raila was rigged in 2022

Nairobi ODM chairman and Makadara MP George Aladwa has slammed former President Uhuru Kenyatta over claims that former Prime Minister Raila Odinga was rigged out in the 2022 presidential election, reopening debate over the disputed poll.

Speaking on Friday during the party's grassroots delegates meeting in Lower Kabete, Nairobi, Aladwa said the former President's remarks are ill-intentioned and that he should stop reopening what he portrayed as healed wounds.

Uhuru, speaking during a Jubilee Party meeting in Nairobi on Tuesday, said he remained convinced that Raila had won the election and that he knew how the outcome was altered.

His remarks have since triggered fresh political debate, nearly four years after the Supreme Court upheld President William Ruto’s victory.

But Aladwa appeared to reject the former President’s account, questioning why the issue was being revisited now and urging Uhuru to leave the matter in the past.

“Let him desist from that matter. If he has retired, we respect him. But he should not come and tell us lies,” Aladwa said. "That's the highest level of hypocrisy."

He appeared to take particular issue with the circumstances surrounding the 2022 election, asking why Uhuru had not raised the alleged rigging claims at the time.

"Why are you raising this now?” he posed, claiming Uhuru duped them.

"He had the power to help Raila but he handed over the instruments to Ruto at Kasarani Stadium. It is him we are blaming for Raila's loss," Aladwa claimed, alleging that Uhuru's remarks are inciting.

"We are not ready to go to the streets," he said, pledging to support Ruto's re-election bid.

The MP also threw his weight behind the Government-to-Government (G-to-G) oil deal, insisting that those leaders questioning the arrangement should table the qualms in Parliament.