Musician Kevin Kioko alias Bahati believes he would have been the incumbent Member of Parliament (MP) for Mathare if he had vied for the seat on a United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party ticket.
Speaking during an interview with Chipukeezy, Bahati claimed that Azimio sabotaged his campaigns causing his defeat in the August 9, 2022, General Election.
"I don't want to be tribal but Azimio never believed in young people, straight forward they never. William Ruto believed in me before anyone. He was the first one kujua this guy is vying and he supported me, shetani ni mbaya," Bahati said.
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He added that the decision by the coalition to announce that he was stepping down in favour of another candidate just 10 days before the election ruined his chances of winning.
"10 days to elections, that was the worst day of my life. Nimeshikwa hivi mkono nimeambiwa utapewa kazi and that's how everything changed. Because you know 10 days to election inamaanisha you only have like five days to campaign. So inamaanisha kuna watu wameenda home wakijua ata hauko kwa ballot. I don't know ata nilitokea aje hio kura nilipata. I don't really know, it's a miracle," he said.
The musician-cum-politician further claimed that he spent Ksh27 million on his campaign.
"I campaigned with my own money to the end. I spent roughly Ksh27 million," he said.
Ruto's support
Bahati underscored Ruto's support in his campaign for the Mathare seat, disclosing that he nowadays feels ashamed because he didn't support the president in the 2022 election.
"Stakangi kukaribua president ju naskia aibu. He gave me the first food that I distributed in Mathare. He gave me the first support," he said.
Bahati claimed that he opted the support Ruto's rival in the 2022 General Election because he didn't want to be against the government at that time.
"Do you believe ungerun na UDA sahi ungekua Mathare Member of Parliament? (Do you believe you would been Mathare MP if you vied on a UDA ticket?) Chipukeezy asked Bahati.
"If I had that ticket ningekua mbunge (I would have been an MP). That is one of the biggest mistakes I ever did in my life - running away from UDA then," Bahati said.
Mathare election
Bahati lost the 2022 Mathare parliamentary seat by a huge margin.
The musician came a distant third behind incumbent MP Anthony Oluoch of ODM and UDA's Billian Ojiwa in the hotly contested race.
Oluoch retained the seat by attaining 28,098 votes with Ojiwa coming second with 16,912 votes.
Bahati managed to get 8,166 votes on the Jubilee party ticket.
The musician defected from the Jubilee party in April 2023 and officially joined the running UDA party.
Bahati was accompanied by his wife Diana Marua, MC Jessy, KRG the Don, DK Kwenye Beat, Sammy Boy, Dufla and Rufftone among others who also joined UDA.
