Leaked documents have revealed how former Prime Minister Raila Odinga rejected a proposal by UK-based firm, Cambridge Analytica in which the firm promised to deliver him victory over President Uhuru Kenyatta.
Leaked documents reveal Raila’s blunder that made him lose to Uhuru in the Presidential election
Costly blunder: "It was truly unfortunate that ODM was too confident"
File image of ODM leader Raila Odinga during a press conference at ABC Place in Nairobi on August 10, 2017
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It is a move that the former Prime minister would live to regret as the firm shifted its base and threw its weight behind President Uhuru Kenyatta who eventually won the race.
The Standard on 04 January 2020 reports that Odinga who was at the time overconfident that he would clinch the presidency in the 2013 elections dismissed the proposal.
Leaked emails exchanged between CA and a Kenyan contact detail how ODM top brass maintain that Raila did not need the services of CA, stating that CA would come in handy in 2017 when ODM would already in power.
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"Last time we had a fruitful engagement which led to a meeting with Marcus Beltran of SCL (formerly Strategic Laboratories Communication - a mother group of CA), and ODM top brass.
"It was truly unfortunate that ODM was too confident and thought that the services of SCL would best serve them in 2017 elections when they were already in power. The results of their overconfidence is well known," reads an excerpt from an email dated December 2, 2013.
President Uhuru Kenyatta with Deputy President William Ruto after beind declared winner of Augus 8th election
Pulse Live Kenya
His (Raila's) dreams were however quashed with President Uhuru Kenyatta's resounding victory that was upheld by the Supreme Court.
ODM approaches Cambridge Analytica and is rejected before turning against it
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The company would shift its focus and ink a deal with President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Jubilee party (formerly TNA) in the 2017 elections.
With things getting thick for Odinga in the 2017 elections under NASA, the former PM would approach CA, seeking their support.
The firm was however not interested in working with Odinga and chose to stick with Uhuru.
The deal which is reported to be Ksh 250 Million in value would see CA analyze political views of Kenyans, governance structures, perceptions on the International Criminal Court, the trust of various leaders and the reasons Kenyans had for voting.
"Insights were used to produce messaging to appeal to target groups, Issue hierarchies and propensity to change vote scores were produced for each group," a document to The National Alliance (TNA) read.
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A defeated Odinga would surface afterwards and accuse the very firm he had approached of engaging in election malpractices.
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