Royal Media Services (RMS) chairman SK Macharia has alleged a fraudulent pattern that rigged ODM leader Raila Odinga out in at least four elections he has participated in.
Speaking during the burial of his brother, retired Colonel James Gitahi in Machakos county, Macharia started by noting that he had always sided with Raila in all the presidential elections since 2007.
He went on to reveal that his connection with Raila dates back to the political heydays of the ODM leader’s father, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, revealing that he supported him (Jaramogi) in the 1992 General Election.
Macharia moreover explained that he realised the resolve to back Jaramogi at the expense of his fellow tribesman, Kenneth Matiba.
SK Macharia claims Raila has been winning elections since 2007. Photo: Courtesy.
“I started campaigning for presidential candidates in 1992, when I was campaigning for Oginga Odinga, me as a Kikuyu. At that time, Kenneth Matiba was the opposite candidate,” he recalled.
Jaramogi later died,Raila came out to continue his legacy, and unsuccessfully gave his first shot at the presidency in the 1997 General Election when he vied against the then president, the late Daniel Moi; this time, SK Macharia was not actively involved in the vote.
The ODM leader and Macharia would later start their friendship, which they maintained for years to date.
Macharia started involving himself in Raila’s political exploits in 2007 when the ODM boss went back to the field to make his second stab at the presidency.
By 2007, Raila had fallen out with Kibaki just five years after their iconic political camaraderie that ended Moi’s 24-year tenure.
The former prime minister once worked with the late Mwai Kibaki before their fallout. Photo: Courtesy.
Vying on an ODM party ticket, he fielded against Kibaki and according to Macharia schemes were employed to manipulate the election results.
“In 2007, Raila and the current president, William Ruto, were against Kibaki. And again, Kibaki is a Kikuyu, and I happened to have been campaigning for Raila. Kibaki won, and we had complete data that Raila had won the election. I know some people will run away. I agreed with Gitahi that whoever dies first would reveal this information. Our data showed that Raila had won with 1.8 million votes. I met all the returning officers from the Mt Kenya region; all their forms were taken, and the figures were changed, and Kibaki was declared the winner,” Macharia alleged.
The RMS boss continued to note that he never considered leaving Raila’s fold, despite his political choices landing him in trouble with the regime recalling how some channels within the larger RMS were switched off in Mt Kenya because of his support for Raila.
“Inooro and Citizen TV were switched off in Mt Kenya in 2012 and 2013. That could not make me change my belief in Raila because he was left to me by his father (Jaramogi).”
Talk of 2017, SK Macharia claimed that the voter’s roll was allegedly manipulated to balloon Uhuru’s vote basket.
According to Macharia, the 2017 vote was equally tampered with, lending credence to the findings of the Supreme Court which annulled the results.
“We learnt that the register had been changed for voters… Some names were gotten from the death register, and did not have photographs. That is how Raila was beaten. But remember that CJ emeritus David Maraga found discrepancies and threw away the election. Raila refused to go to the repeat election with the same IEBC,” he said.
In 2022, Macharia claimed there was the same plot to rig Raila out.
He blamed Raila for banking on Uhuru, given that they had been friends after the 2018 handshake.
In conclusion, Macharia called on Ruto, in his capacity as president, to sanction the cleaning of the voter’s register and a fresh roll taken.
