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After endorsing ODM leader Raila Odinga’s State House bid, President Uhuru Kenyatta has the huge burden of brokering  a deal that will bring Wiper party leader Kalonzo Musyoka on board in the next two weeks, as he promised the country.

Musyoka and other One Kenya Alliance (OKA) leaders have strongly indicated they are ready to work together again but only under the stewardship of the retiring Head of State.

After hosting dozens of senior politicians including Raila, Kalonzo, Gideon Moi, Cyrus Jirongo and others during the Jubilee National Delegates Convention (NDC) at KICC on Saturday, the Head of State has tasked himself with crafting a formidable coalition, housing all of them and others that will face off with Deputy President William Ruto’s Kenya Kwanza Alliance in the coming elections.

On Saturday, the President said they had given themselves two weeks to come up with a strong line-up, including picking the Azimio flag bearer but that was immediately thrown in doubt after Kalonzo failed to show up at Kasarani for the ODM NDC later that day. He was expected to accompany the President to the event after the Jubilee NDC but he failed to show up.

Level-playing field

On Sunday, Kalonzo and fellow OKA principals Jirongo, Martha Karua (Narc Kenya leader) hosted Chama Cha Kazi leader Moses Kuria at the Hon John Muchuki Memorial Park behind Kibaje Street as they attempted to recruit him to their alliance.

Kuria reported that he had been pressured by the OKA team to join the alliance but had repulsed their advances although he said another meeting is planned for Wednesday.

“They invited Chama Cha Kazi and myself to join OKA. Whereas we share many ideals, we agreed to work together as long as OKA is not joining the Azimio Coalition, which is incompatible with myself, and my Chama Cha Kazi party. We will hold a follow up meeting on Wednesday March 2 to agree on the way forward,” said Kuria, who has announced he will run for Kiambu governor’s seat in the next polls.

Kalonzo and his fellow principals in the OKA are pushing for a level-playing field in the new Azimio-OKA even after the President clearly indicated his preference for Raila as his successor.

During the Sagana III meeting last week in Nyeri, the President did not hide his choice of Raila to take over from him in August, after falling out with Ruto who he had earlier promised to back after serving his two terms.

At the Jubilee NDC, however, Kalonzo appeared to demand for equal treatment as Raila, a two-time ally he promised never to support again after being his running mate in the last two General Elections.

It is also expected that OKA will go ahead to unveil its presidential candidate on Monday despite the ongoing talks with Raila, in a bid to increase their stake in the negotiation table. 

Kalonzo also wants an assurance that the President will be the custodian of any agreement between their alliance and Azimio for fear of falling into the same trap the National Super Alliance (Nasa) found itself in after Raila abandoned it in favour of the Handshake with Uhuru.

Nasa was Raila’s political vehicle in the 2017 elections but it disintegrated soon after Raila sworn himself in as the People’s President in January 2018 without the support of other principals; Kalonzo and Musalia Mudavadi.

After the Handshake in March 2018, the former Nasa principals accused each other of betrayal with Kalonzo and Mudavadi accusing Raila’s party of hoarding the share they wanted from what ODM got from the political parties’ fund.

Enemy is known

“Moving forward, we have to build honour and dignity but I give you my promise and that of OKA that we are together in this journey but we will negotiate a structured dialogue, honest conversation, correcting historical imbalances because building a coalition is not easy anywhere and I propose the President you take the leadership of that coalition…we cannot afford to lose this election. We can’t,” Kalonzo said.

It remains unclear on what the President will offer Kalonzo, even as he (Uhuru) fights to rally his Mt Kenya region behind the ODM boss.

Mt Kenya leaders have been pushing for the position of running mate as part of the bargain for Raila’s support.

To assuage any fears linked to the mistrust common in political coalitions in the country that might spell doom for the nascent alliance, the President said he was fully in Azimio and was ready to make sure it wins the next elections, although he did not indicate if he will be its patron as suggested by Kalonzo. 

 “I’m a Jubilee member but from today in my mind, my mouth, soul and blood I’m in Azimio…we will move around the country and in two weeks I have no doubt that we will come back for a big meeting and decide our flag bearer,” said Uhuru.

Kanu leader Moi said they were ready for a grand coalition but warned against grandstanding, adding the main challenge was to ensure any outfit formed would focus on improving the lives of Kenyans.

“When you see us here, know we have agreed that those we can do business with are here. The enemy is known, the enemy is defined, and the enemy is not in this room. So what’s the problem? We should get on with the business at hand, transforming the lives of our people. Our aim is victory,” said Moi.

Even as Kalonzo takes time to make up his mind on what stake he deserves in the alliance, Raila is riding on the support of three Ukambani governors Alfred Mutua (Machakos), Charity Ngilu (Kitui) and Kivutha Kibwana (Makueni) who have taken it upon themselves to campaign for him without Kalonzo’s hand.

Lately, Ngilu has obtained a prominent role in Raila’s campaign capturing her rising influence in the Azimio team. The Kitui governor, who is a member of Raila’s campaign secretariat, traces her political relationship with Raila to 2002 when they partnered in the National Rainbow Coalition to oust Kanu from power.

On Saturday, Ngilu welcomed the OKA leaders to Azimio urging Uhuru and Raila to ensure they had a presidential candidate soon.

“I pray to God that as we go forward in the next few weeks they will be able to come up with one candidate so Kenya can remain firm,” Ngilu said.

The absence of Narc-Kenya leader Martha Karua in both NDCs on Saturday despite being a principal in OKA had left the tongues wagging over her stance in the new alliance but that cooled down yesterday after she hosted Kuria alongside with the other OKA leaders Kalonzo and Kuria.

–Jeremiah Kiplang’at