Sunday, December 12, 2010

Ruto factor in Kalonzo’s 2012 strategy


Mirth: Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka (right) and Eldoret North MP William Ruto laugh during a fundraiser for Itigo Africa Inland Church in Mosop Constituency last weekend. Photo/JARED NYATAYA
Mirth: Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka (right) and Eldoret North MP William Ruto laugh during a fundraiser for Itigo Africa Inland Church in Mosop Constituency last weekend. Photo/JARED NYATAYA 
By MUGUMO MUNENE mmunene@ke.nationmedia.com and BOB ODALO bodalo@ke.nationmedia.comPosted Saturday, December 11 2010 at 22:32

Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka’s increased political activity, especially his forays into the Rift Valley, have stirred political waters and attracted caution and criticism in equal measure as the country grapples with the reality of Kenyans facing ICC trials at The Hague.

The VP was in Kajiado on Saturday at the invitation of Internal Security minister George Saitoti a week after he announced a vague political arrangement with Eldoret North MP William Ruto in Mosop, Nandi.
His increased political activity comes in the wake of an attempt coordinated by Energy minister Kiraitu Murungi to inject new life into the PNU coalition that sponsored President Kibaki for his second term in office.
What results will be one of the political machines that the VP hopes will give him leverage for the presidency. Since the 2008 post-poll crisis, the VP has hoped to reap benefits for having sided with President Kibaki to shore up the PNU side after the disputed election results.
In addition, Mr Musyoka is a major player in a deal-in-the-making in which he has signed a protocol with Prof Saitoti and Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta on how they will approach the 2012 elections.
The PNU team met President Kibaki last Thursday and briefed him on the plan in which those seeking the presidency would face the electorate in countrywide primaries. The meeting was held at the President’s Harambee House office.
“The President was very agreeable with the plan as long as they remain united. However, he cautioned against bravado.
He thinks it’s logical. He’s clear that he’s not backtracking on neutrality as a grand coalition principal, but it’s clear he’s looking for a bi-party system where the country has two strong political parties,” said a PNU strategist who attended the meeting.
The meeting was attended by the VP, Mr Kenyatta, Prof Saitoti and at least six Cabinet members allied to PNU. The VP’s spokesperson Kaplich Barsito confirmed the President was briefed on the party’s revival strategy.
But the plan to build a “strong political machine” out of the PNU political wing is already generating intense heat from within. Although the three main players – Mr Musyoka, Prof Saitoti and Mr Kenyatta – have agreed on a formula of working together, they have to compete from within.
Mr Musyoka has hit the ground running in the hope that he will be the frontrunner and has been building political bridges across the country in order to shore up his chances.
Sources familiar with the plan say the VP hopes to win favour in UDM – widely believed to be Mr Ruto’s next political party – and hammer out a working arrangement.
The strategy here is that in case Mr Ruto is not in the race for 2012, the VP will get the Kalenjin support that would be a major boost to his quest for the top seat.
His move is well calculated, especially keeping in mind that the Kalenjin vote in 2007 was crucial to ODM’s numbers and those for Mr Raila Odinga.
Earlier in the year, Mr Ruto, Mr Kenyatta and Mr Musyoka announced the formation of the KKK alliance around which they hoped to rally members of their communities to vote for one candidate.
The idea withered under the intense heat of critics who wondered how other communities would fit into the plan.
The VP’s spokesperson said that, arising from the Thursday meeting, the leaders were now set to reach out to other non-party members but would neither confirm nor deny the plan to reach out to Mr Ruto’s political bloc.
Last weekend’s meeting in Mosop is seen as part of the VP’s strategy to woo the Kalenjin and cast himself as their best bet if they do not field their own candidate.
Now together
At the meeting, the VP repeatedly asked journalists to tell “the country and the world” that “Kalonzo and Ruto are now together”. Mr Ruto, on the other hand, said he was looking for “friends who are genuine and legitimate”.

Mr Musyoka caught even his most ardent supporters off guard with his remarksat the Africa Inland Church in Itigo, Mosop constituency, during the church’s 65th anniversary.

The two leaders individually took time to tear into Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s political philosophies and indicated they would be campaigning against him in 2012.
Mr Musyoka cautioned that his words should not be interpreted beyond what he had said, but his political friends and foes were watching every word.
Mutito MP Kiema Kilonzo – who has been at loggerheads with Mr Musyoka – is one such politician who thinks the VP’s comments should not just be taken at face value.
“During the referendum campaign, Mr Ruto came to Ukambani and delivered Mr Musyoka’s greetings. The VP has disowned Ruto twice this year; he is on record as dismissing Ruto’s greetings; does he want Kenyans to believe him on this newfound sympathy note?” the Mutito MP wondered while speaking to the Sunday Nation.
“We saw politics being played. There was no sincerity at all. It is a situation where one wants to capitalise on the other’s predicament,” he said.
Taking advantage
Former Cabinet minister and Mwala MP Mutua Katuku said the VP’s comments portrayed him as a politician who takes advantage of situations without considering the outcome of his acts.
Former Kibwezi MP Kalembe Ndile said he saw the VP’s words as clever but badly timed. “The VP is a lawyer, and definitely he should have known the import of his utterances,” he said. But one of the VP’s allies, Prof Philip Kaloki, said critics have twisted the issues for political reasons.

1 comment:

  1. The KKK thing is Being Driven By cheap political Propaganda that will not last no body has 4gotten Youth 4 KANU 92...Project Uhuru 2002
    And the water Melon Kalonzo 2007 Elections

    ReplyDelete