Photo/FILE Mr Mudavadi and Mr Odinga have been engaged in a contest for the ODM ticket for the presidency. Mr Odinga has since said that ODM was still strong despite the departure of his deputy.
By BERNARD NAMUNANE bnamunane@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted Monday, April 23 2012 at 22:30
Posted Monday, April 23 2012 at 22:30
Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s office and that of his deputy, Mr Musalia Mudavadi, were locked in a dispute over an alleged election pact similar to the infamous 2002 MoU signed by opposition Narc party leaders. Read (It’s my turn to run for top seat, says Mudavadi)
Mr Mudavadi’s spokesman, Mr Kibisu Kabatesi, claimed that Mr Odinga proposed to sign an agreement with Mr Mudavadi stating that he was to serve only one term.
He would also pick Mr Mudavadi as his running mate, Mr Kabatesi claimed. In exchange, Mr Odinga wanted Mr Mudavadi to quit the presidential race.
But Mr Odinga’s spokesman, Mr Dennis Onyango, dismissed the allegations as “far-fetched and a lie”.
Mr Kabatesi alleged the deal was contained in a message conveyed to Mr Mudavadi by the Luhya Elders Forum which met the Prime Minister in his office last week.
In a statement on Monday on the visit by the elders to Mr Mudavadi’s Mululu home in Sabatia last Friday, Mr Kabatesi said the group’s chairman — Mr Patrick Wangamati — told the deputy PM that Mr Odinga wanted to sign an MoU with him to drop out of the race.
“The Elders had only one message for Mr Mudavadi from the PM; that the PM wanted the DPM not to contest against him in the ODM nominations. That the PM was ready to append his signature on a document stating that in return for the DPM not contesting the presidential ticket, the PM will make him his running mate and also only serve for five years,” he said.
According to the elders, Mr Kabatesi alleged, the PM wanted to avoid competition for the ODM ticket by striking a boardroom deal.
“The elders told the DPM that it was therefore their understanding that the PM was not ready to countenance competition in the party through competitive free and fair elections. Instead he wanted a boardroom deal,” he said.
But Mr Onyango said the PM met the elders and told them that he was willing to change the nomination rules to allow his deputy to contest the presidency.
“The idea that the PM was asking the deputy PM not to run is far-fetched and a lie. The PM told the elders to tell Musalia that he was willing to change the rules but they had to be done procedurally so that nobody goes to court to contest the decision. The PM told them that Musalia had the right to run for the presidency,” he said.
Explaining the visit by the elders, Mr Onyango said the group was concerned about the souring relations between the two leaders.
“The elders came to the PM out of their own concern and they wanted to know what he was doing about it. They were concerned that the two should not part in a bitter way.”
Mr Odinga, he said, reiterated his position on the contest for the ODM presidential ticket with Mr Mudavadi and cited his firm stand on party MPs who had accused the deputy PM of disrespect for seeking the presidency.
“There was nothing like signing an MoU. It didn’t come up at all,” Mr Onyango said.
Mr Mudavadi at the weekend announced that he was quitting ODM to contest the presidency on another party which he is yet to announce.
He had differed with Mr Odinga’s allies in the party over the nominations rules that make the party leader its presidential candidate.
In his parting short, the Local Government minister said he had been driven away by insults from the PM’s allies who referred to him as an “adopted son”.
Mr Odinga has since said that ODM was still strong despite the departure of his deputy.
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