TNA leader in charm offensive to form alliance ahead of polls

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From left: APK secretary general Kiraitu Murungi , Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta, Finance minister Njeru Githae and Gema's Stephen Karau in a show of solidarity after a meeting at the Norfolk Hotel, Nairobi. Four parties pledged to support Mr Kenyatta's presidential bid August 8, 2012. JENNIFER MUIRURI  

By OLIVER MATHENGE omathenge@ke.nationmedia.com 
Posted  Saturday, August 11  2012 at  23:30

IN SUMMARY

• But partners in the G7 grouping are wary of his efforts as they feel Mr Kenyatta wants them to support his bid in spite of their ambitions

Leaders affiliated to the G7 Alliance have reignited the drive to craft a common strategy to work together and beat key legal deadlines ahead of next year’s elections.

Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta is scheduled to meet Eldoret North MP William Ruto and Deputy Prime Minister Musalia Mudavadi on Monday. This comes ahead of a retreat to put together the required political agreement.

Mr Kenyatta met two other presidential candidates – Party of Action (POA) leader Raphael Tuju and Justice minister Eugene Wamalwa of New Ford-Kenya where they agreed to put together a team that will draw up the agreement and draft nomination rules.

Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka, who was out of the country, sent nominated MP Mohammed Affey to represent him. Also present were Energy minister Kiraitu Murungi and Nominated MP Musikari Kombo.

Mr Kenyatta was then tasked to ask Mr Ruto and Mr Mudavadi to send representatives to the working committee, which is scheduled to go on the retreat on Wednesday. The G7 Alliance will, if and when its leaders agree, be transformed into a unit to be called Coalition for Progress.

“I can tell you with authority that each of the parties and presidential aspirants have agreed to assign one person each to a technical team that would ensure our parties work together. The meeting was informed by the fact that we are all aware that we must forge alliances for the good of this country. Any of us who wants to become number one in the country must be ready to have Kenya be number one first,” Mr Tuju said.

Sources who attended the meeting said the group was taken through, by Mr Murungi and Dr Stephen Karau (both of Alliance party of Kenya (APK)), the legal deadlines that must be met if they are to work together and hold joint nominations ahead of the General Election.

Key among these dates is October 17, when all parties are supposed to have submitted their nomination rules. Earlier on Wednesday, Mr Kenyatta, through his The National Alliance had signed a co-operation agreement with Party of National Unity (PNU), APK and Grand National Union (GNU). The party leaders agreed to support his candidature.

It was also proposed that the parties work together to establish the TNA coalition.

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This would be Mr Kenyatta’s fall back plan if his efforts to bring together the G7 Alliance to an understanding fail.

“No one political party has the capacity to win the General Election. At the end of the day politics is not about the individual, politics is about the desire to be able to draw up a common manifesto, a common policy and common programmes that we shall all be able to sign off to,” Mr Kenyatta said after Wednesday’s meeting.

Mr Kenyatta’s spokesman Munyori Buku told the Sunday Nation that the developments were part of the DPM’s quest to ensure that like-minded leaders and their parties were involved in structuring the next government.

“What Mr Kenyatta has said all along is that he will work with like-minded parties and leaders from across Kenya. This is the surest way of cementing national unity, peace and reconciliation. In this way, Kenyans will bake the national cake together and share it together,” Mr Buku said.

On Saturday, TNA officials confirmed that Mr Kenyatta was talking to various party leaders and was carrying out his mandate and there was nothing wrong with him coming together with other parties. They, however, insisted that there was still no concrete agreement that could hinder TNA from operating on its own currently.

“The objective is that we want a situation where we will form an all-inclusive government that will work for all Kenyans. What we are saying and what the DPM is saying is that as long as there is free and fair nominations in whatever alliance that is formed, TNA will be part of it,” TNA chairman Johnson Sakaja told the Sunday Nation.

Mr Sakaja also insisted that Mr Kenyatta’s efforts were based on ideologies and not personalities.

TNA secretary general Onyango Oloo added; “We shall continue to operate as TNA but we will support any agreement put together with like-minded parties whether in G7 or whatever other form that it will take. So far there is no concrete merger or coalition agreement.”

Despite these assurances from Mr Kenyatta’s side, there are still suspicions among the G7 leaders especially from Mr Ruto and Mr Mudavadi’s camps. Allies of the two were quick to dismiss Mr Kenyatta’s latest efforts.

Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ruto have previously been holding consultations in an effort to make a post-election coalition agreement that involves all of them running for president in the first round.

However, these efforts appeared to have dwindled after Mr Wamalwa took centre stage during TNA launch, even inviting Mr Kenyatta to the podium.

Mr Ruto and Mr Mudavadi and their allies are also convinced that Mr Kenyatta wants to play a dominant role with them as junior partners.

They have thus been weighing the impact of any of them dropping off and supporting the other and whether their supporters would back such an arrangement.

This is worsened by public utterances by supporters of Mr Kenyatta which tend to indicate they have already made up their mind about their presidential choice.

Last week, Water assistant minister and a vocal Mr Kenyatta supporter Ferdinand Waititu told a meeting that their “plan A is Uhuru, Plan B Uhuru, Plan C up to Z is Uhuru”.

“I am in URP and so ask me anything to do with URP. About the others you can ask them. URP believes in higher ideals but we also believe in dialogue with other parties as this election is going to be about issues,” Mr Ruto said when asked why he did not attend the Thursday meeting.

Mr Kenyatta sees himself as the most capable of winning the race to State House among the G7 members. Opinion polls have consistently placed Mr Kenyatta second behind Prime Minister Raila Odinga and have also suggested that a run-off would be between the two.

Sources within the DPM’s circles have intimated that he is focused on winning the presidency in the first round of voting arguing that a run-off would be very divisive.

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Mr Kenyatta is said to be seeking the support of his peers and is on a mission to convince them that he can beat Mr Odinga. He has promised to thereafter form an all-inclusive government that will cater for the interests of all.

His key supporters and allies back his quest and are even asking presidential contenders from Central Kenya to support him. Agriculture assistant minister Kareke Mbiuki and Igembe South MP Mithika Linturi have been vocal in asking the parties to merge into one outfit.