Kenya’s Odinga Backs Call for Single Opposition Vote Candidate

NAIROBI, Capital Markets in Africa: Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga backed a call by former Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka for a single candidate to compete in next year’s presidential elections.

The nominee should be fielded under banner of the Coalition for Reforms and Democracy, Odinga said in a statement e-mailed Tuesday from the capital, Nairobi. Musyoka has proposed that CORD be registered as a political party and that its three constituents each nominate a candidate, from whom one will be selected, the Daily Nation reported.

“The coalition will encourage the other parties willing to come on board to support this arrangement that enables them to retain their identity while flying the corporate CORD flag,” Odinga said.

Kenya, East Africa’s biggest economy, is scheduled to hold elections next August. Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta will seek a second term with the Jubilee Party, which was formed earlier this month through the merger of about a dozen parties.

 Source: Bloomberg Business News