Justina Wamae On Life-Threatening Incident That Made Her Dump Wajackoyah

Former Roots Party running mate Justina Wamae on Wednesday, April 5 opened up on how her former party leader, George Wajackoyah, committed a major blunder during the campaign period prior to the August 9, 2022 elections that put her life at risk.

Speaking during the Point Of View (POV) podcast hosted by Cate Rira, Wamae recalled being chased down by angry boda boda riders while accompanying Wajackoyah to a rally in Kondele, Kisumu.

While terming the events that transpired at the Lakeside city as the root cause of her eventual fallout with Wajackoyah, Wamae expressed her shock at Wajackoyah running towards the airport as the convoy was under hot pursuit by the riders, a matter which left her exposed.

Collage image of George Wajackoyah and Justina Wamae. /VIRALTEAKE

"What he did, his car drove as we were driving in a convoy, I don't know how they went to the other side of the road, they drove off and they went to the airport and he went to Nairobi, leaving me in Kisumu.

"We didn't have money for mobilisation, and those guys boda boda riders chased my car. I'm telling you we were driving like mad people," she revealed.

She further noted that by Wajackoyah abandoning her in Kisumu, she faced a real threat to her life given that she was in a city filled with residents who would likely profile her for her tribe.

According to her, Wajackoyah should have alerted his party on evasive measures to take in case matters went haywire, including arranging for their own transport out of Kondele in advance instead of relying on his car for further directions.

"I'm even panicking I'm thinking I'll be killed. Remember I'm a Kikuyu in Kisumu, are you getting? I was disturbed. I wasn't happy.

"I wish he told us, guys after Kondele this is the vibe, everyone for himself, we'd have turned from Kondele to run away to Nairobi. We followed him, and the guy jumps and heads towards the airport. He put my life in danger. My life was in danger, I felt scared, I was worried," she said. 

Wamae also noted that she was not in her husband's car at the time, a matter which threw him into panic as he kept trying to reach out to establish what had transpired.

"My husband is also panicking asking what has happened. They were running in another direction, we were running in another direction, and the guys had seen me that this is the car which had the running mate. So guys were following us, we were driving like mad people," she went on.

Wamae had decided afterwards that she was never going to be in good relations with him and had scolded him for endangering her life, which eventually led to her stinging attack on Wajackoyah days before the August elections.

"For me, he put my life in danger and that was very selfish of him and from that point is when I realised, I'm never going to laugh with this man.

"I'm going to be very serious and I told him later you put my life in danger and everyone in the party knew, because what if the car was stopped? I'm pulled out, I'm a woman you know, I'm vulnerable at that point," she added. 

On August 3, 2022, Wamae accused Wajackoyah of breaking the rules regarding the position of the Roots Party and for failing to consult her despite her position in the party and her name already on the ticket ahead of the August 9 general elections. In particular, she accused the professor of supporting Azimio la Umoja leader, Raila Odinga's presidential bid.

This led to a massive fallout within the top party leadership which culminated in her tendering her resignation from the Roots Party on September 22, 2022, days after the Supreme Court upheld President William Ruto's victory and his subsequent inauguration.

Yagnik Vinod Ramji was appointed the Deputy Party leader to replace Wamae. Naran Velji Arjan was appointed the Chief Executive Officer and Janet Akinyi Odhiambo as the deputy national chairperson.

Wajackoyah has been supporting Raila even through the Azimio demonstrations while Wamae has been strengthening her brand through her well-researched takes on various current affairs topics, among others.

Justina Wamae poses with Cate Rira for a photo on April 5, 2023. /TWITTER.CATE RIRA