Kenya’s opposition lined up, yesterday, behind a single candidate, veteran political leader Raila Odinga, strengthening their challenge to the government in August’s polls.

Former prime minister Odinga, 72, was named presidential candidate by senior leaders of the National Super Alliance (NASA) at a large rally in the capital Nairobi.

Odinga will, for the second time, challenge Uhuru Kenyatta in a repeat of the 2013 election which he lost in the first round.

However, this time five of the country’s main opposition leaders have united, something they always failed to do in the past.

Musalia Mudavadi, a former vice-president who struck out on his own in 2013, said that this time he and others had "sacrificed personal ambitions” to present a united front to challenge Kenyatta and his dominant Jubilee Party on August 8.

Tens of thousands of supporters waited for most of the day in Nairobi’s downtown Uhuru Park in order to witness the declaration of Odinga as their presidential candidate.

In a repeat of the main 2013 opposition ticket, Kalonzo Musyoka, another former vice-president, was named Odinga’s running-mate.

Other senior positions were divided among Mudavadi, Moses Wetangula and Issac Ruto. The five men stood together on stage to celebrate the announcement.

Agencies