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 sendoff of his brother, retired Colonel James Gitahi, on Saturday, March 15, in Machakos county, Macharia shared that he had always sided with Raila in all the presidential elections since 2007.
He revealed 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 explained that he realised the resolve to back Jaramogi at the expense of his fellow tribesman, Kenneth Matiba.
"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.
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Jaramogi later died, leaving Macharia to decide on whom he would patronage.
With his father's death, Raila, who had established himself politically, came out to continue his legacy, and unsuccessfully gave his first shot at the presidency in the 1997 General Election when he vied against then president, the late Daniel Moi; this time, SK Macharia was not actively involved in the vote.
Raila and Macharia would later spark their friendship, which they maintained for year to date.
The 82-year-old did not feature prominently in the 2002 vote, as Raila had joined forces with the late Mwai Kibaki and were on the same side; with Kibaki vying against former president Uhuru kenyatta, who had been propped up by the late Daniel Moi.
Kibaki, with the support of Raila, won the election and was later sworn in as the third president of post-independent Kenya.
"The 2002 General Election was not a big deal, because Raila had joined the late Mwai Kibaki to compete against Uhuru Kenyatta, and it was an easier election for Kibaki," Macharia recalled.
The RMS boss 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 after their iconic political camaraderie that ended Moi's 24-year tenure.
Vying on an ODM party ticket, he fielded himself against Kibaki.
Macharia revealed that, despite the ODM boss's robust strategies to unseat a then unpopular Kibaki in the 2007 general election, and his (Raila's) clear chances, 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.
Despite the setbacks, Macharia said he never considered leaving Raila's fold, despite his political choices landing him in trouble with the regime.
He recalled some channels within the larger RMS getting switched off in Mt Kenya because of his resolve to support the ODM leader: "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)."
In 2017, according to Macharia, the voter's roll was allegedly manipulated to balloon Uhuru's vote basket.
At the time, Uhuru was seeking his second term alongside his deputy William Ruto, against Raila, who was having a fourth attempt at the presidency.
He alleged that the 2017 vote was equally tampered with, lending credence to the findings of the Supreme Court which annulled the results.
According to him, the death of Chris Musando, then IEBC's ICT director, was plotted so the system could be accessed and tampered with.
"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.
He sought the ODM leader's audience to brief him on the matter, but he (Raila) was not keen.
"We went to Naivasha to plan for Raila's candidacy. I tried to explain to Raila that the register that was going to be used was fake. But Raila was so impatient, he stopped me from explaining. The four commissioners who resigned, and others fired, came to my house and showed them how the register was not true," he said.
In 2022, Macharia claimed there was the same plot to rig Raila out.
He faulted 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.
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