Odinga backed by incumbent Uhuru Kenyatta and with key allies Kalonzo Musyoka and deputy presidential nominee Martha Karua's Azimio La Umoja alliance has the opinion poll lead and the establishment voice to support it...

The complex pre-election power-sharing deal between the parties in Odinga's Azimio which brought together Odinga's Orange Democratic Movement Kenyatta's Jubilee Kalonzo Musyoka's Wiper party and the Kenya African National Union of Gideon Moi saw the ODM's Tim Wanyonyi abandon his plans to run in favour of Jubilee's candidate Equity Bank executive Polycarp Igathe who will take on Nairobi senator and UDA candidate Johnson Sakaja...

Choosing Karua bumped Odinga ahead of his rival Ruto in the opinion polls but it meant that he disappointed Wiper party leader Kalonzo Musyoka who had expected to the running mate slot having secured in the 2017 elections...

However Wiper party leader Kalonzo Musyoka who had conditioned his support for Odinga on being his running mate has not taken the snub well (AC Vol 63 No 9 Rivals struggle to balance their tickets)...

In particular Wiper party leader Kalonzo Musyoka a Kamba has made spirited demands for the deputy president slot which have complicated Odinga's plans to court the Mount Kenya vote...

That puts pressure on the OKA which groups together the Amani National Congress led by Musalia Mudavadi; Kalonzo Musyoka's Wiper party; the Kenya African National Union of Gideon Moi; and Moses Wetangula's Ford Kenya...

The bill also seeks a six-month prior-to-elections deadline for smaller parties such as those of Amani National Congress leader Musalia Mudavadi and Wiper's Kalonzo Musyoka to declare officially and irrevocably whose presidential ticket they will support...

Amani National Congress leader Musalia Mudavadi sent apologies for his absence – his step-mother's body was arriving for burial from the United States on the day – while the Wiper party's Kalonzo Musyoka was conveniently in South Sudan...