I splashed Sh27 million on my campaigns - Bahati finally reveals
Bahati revealed that he spent about Sh27 million from his own pockets in his campaigns
Famous Kenyan musician Kelvin Kioko aka Bahati has finally opened up about the huge amount of money he spent during the 2022 general election campaigns.
In an interview with comedian Chipukeezy on the Chipukeezy Show, the 30-year-old singer noted that despite running for the seat on a Jubilee ticket, he was an independent candidate as the party led by former president Uhuru Kenyatta never gave him any support.
Bahati revealed that he spent about Sh27 million from his own pockets in his campaigns. "I was only in Jubilee but I was an independent candidate.
Because now, even with this Jubilee ticket, I am not supported. I was just sent to IEBC and given a ticket, there was no other option, it would not be returned. The only way was to return it and say I stopped standing," Bahati said.
He added, "But it was everything, I'm free. I campaigned with my own money until the end. I spent about 27 million shillings.”
Bahati ran for the Mathare Parliamentary seat in the August 2022 election and came third behind Anthony Oluoch of ODM and Billian Ojiwa of UDA.
In the interview, the former gospel singer claimed that the leader of the Union Declaration Raila Odinga only wanted the ODM candidate to take the seat and even asked him to withdraw from the race promising him a job in the government after they won the presidency.
Bahati said being ordered to withdraw from the race just 10 days before the election changed a lot of things as many of his supporters returned home knowing that his name had already been removed from the ballot paper.
"I don't even know how I happened to come to that vote I got, I don't know at all. It was a miracle," he said.
In last year's Mathare parliamentary election, Oluoch of ODM retained the seat by getting 28,098 votes while Ojiwa of UDA came second with 16,912 votes. Bahati managed to get 8,166 votes for the Jubilee party ticket.