Presidential aspirants race against time

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PHOTO | FILE Presidential candidates Raphael Tuju (second left), Eugene Wamalwa (second right) and Uhuru Kenyatta (centre) address journalists outside Norfolk Hotel, Nairobi after a unity meeting. Kiraitu Muriungi (left) and Musikari Kombo also attended.  NATION MEDIA GROUP

By JULIUS SIGEI jsigei@ke.nationmedia.com and BOB ODALO bodalo@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted  Sunday, November 4  2012 at  00:30

IN SUMMARY

• And as the clock ticks towards the December 4 deadline, political party leaders are engaged in a flurry of public and behind-the-scenes activities which they hope would better help them to negotiate the positions they hope to capture
• MPs allied to Mr Ruto have already embarked on a mission to market the deal between their leader and Mr Kenyatta in the Rift Valley
• There has been disquiet among sections of Mr Ruto’s and Mr Wamalwa’s supporters over reports that they would be dropping their presidential bids in favour of Mr Kenyatta

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Presidential aspirants have 30 days within which to seal pre-election coalition agreements. The agreements which must be deposited with the Registrar of Political Parties by December 4, 2012 will spell out how the politicians intend to share power should they clinch victory in the March 4, 2013 General Election.

And as the clock ticks towards the December 4 deadline, political party leaders are engaged in a flurry of public and behind-the-scenes activities which they hope would better help them to negotiate the positions they hope to capture.

The level of intrigue and high octane power play in the top political echelons began to play out on Friday after a planned memorandum of understanding signing ceremony between New Ford Kenya leader Eugene Wamalwa and TNA’s Uhuru Kenyatta was cancelled at the eleventh hour.

The deal would have been signed on Friday but Mr Wamalwa and Mr Kenyatta on Thursday night are said to have agreed to consult further with their partners United Republican Party (URP) and Narc. The two parties are headed by Eldoret North MP William Ruto and Water minister Charity Ngilu.

Sources familiar with the goings on in the Ruto-Uhuru alliance revealed that the coalition agreement, which was initially supposed to be signed on Tuesday, was seen as pre-mature as Mr Kenyatta was still in talks with the other party leaders.

Other sources however said the signing was cancelled because Mr Wamalwa had upped his stake and declined to take the position of Speaker which he was being offered. “Eugene told Uhuru that he can only discuss being his running mate and nothing less,” the source said.

On Friday, Mr Wamalwa dismissed reports that there was already a deal where he would get the position of Speaker. He added that he admires Speaker “(Kenneth) Marende but not his job.”

“We will not put the cart before the horse, no agreement has been reached with TNA, I’m not going for anything less. No pact will be signed today,” Mr Wamalwa said.

Mr Kenyatta was in Nyeri on Friday where he was meeting councillors from the county and those from Laikipia.

Mr Wamalwa spoke at NFK offices in Nairobi where the party’s National Executive Committee had met. The party insisted that even as it talks with other like-minded parties, it expects its leader (Mr Wamalwa) to be in the presidential race to the end.

NFK also said it had no plans to fold up and merge with any other party.

Meanwhile, MPs allied to Mr Ruto have already embarked on a mission to market the deal between their leader and Mr Kenyatta in the Rift Valley.

With Prime Minister Raila Odinga of ODM trying to make inroads in the area, Mr Ruto’s allies aim at convincing their constituents that the deal with Mr Kenyatta is the best.

“We have decided to go down to the people and explain to them why we have settled on a Uhuru-Ruto alliance,” said Cherangany MP Joshua Kutuny.

There has been disquiet among sections of Mr Ruto’s and Mr Wamalwa’s supporters over reports that they would be dropping their presidential bids in favour of Mr Kenyatta.

And yesterday, Mr Ruto said that he would not be joining hands with Mr Odinga.

“Raila should forget our votes much as we may forgive him for the wrongs that he may have committed against the community and its leaders,” he said. He was referring to an earlier statement by Mr Odinga in which he asked the Kalenjin community to “forgive” him over his stand on issues affecting the Kalenjin community.

The PM is expected in the Rift Valley on Monday where he is expected to pitch for votes in his third quest for the presidency.

The intrigues are playing out in a field tinted by the ICC shadow where four Kenyans including Mr Ruto and Mr Kenyatta face charges of crimes against humanity.

The ICC case has spawned off another case in Kenya where individuals have gone to court on the basis of provisions in the Constitution that place high integrity demands on public officials, seeking to have Mr Ruto and Mr Kenyatta barred from running.

The Nairobi court case is yet to go for hearing while the ICC case is expected to start in April.

Amidst the flurry of coalition building, Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka finds himself in the middle of a political whirpool created by the search for a winning political formula in the elections.

Mr Musyoka has been in talks with Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ruto but whose outcome is yet uncertain.

On the other hand, key lieutenants of the VP, among them Kangundo MP Johnstone Muthama, have declared interest in striking a deal with ODM.

Mr Musyoka, who also has the opportunity of leading his party to the elections alone is walking a tight rope as he faces harsh critics of either deals in his home turf.

Mr Musyoka’s dilemma over which cause he must take was played out in a news story sent out by his press service on Saturday.

“We are ready to talk to anybody… in fact (on Thursday) I held such talks with Uhuru Kenyatta, and would continue to do so with other like-minded leaders,” he said.

Mr Musyoka added: “I want to cover all parts of the country, and very soon I would be taking my campaigns to Nyanza, particularly to Kisumu, Siaya…”

It is instructive that since Mr Musyoka parted ways with Mr Odinga five years ago, he has hardly campaigned in Luo Nyanza, concentrating his political activities in the Kuria and Kisii parts of Nyanza.

After months of uncertainty about who the G7 would pick for a presidential candidate, a smiling Mr Musyoka last month emerged from a lengthy lunch meeting with Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ruto at the Norfolk Hotel, suggesting that good tidings were coming his way.

Last year, Mr Musyoka took on a publicly unpopular diplomatic mission seeking international support to have the ICC cases postponed or referred to the Kenyan judiciary.

Unequal partner
On Saturday, Wiper’s secretary general Mutula Kilonzo and acting party chairman David Musila said in separate interviews with the Sunday Nation that Wiper would no longer be treated as an unequal partner in the alliance.

“If they have sealed a deal and all that is now remaining is the position of the Speaker, though I can’t speak for Kalonzo, if I were him I will not take it. In any case that is not the only coalition that Wiper can engage in,” said Mr Musila.

Mr Kilonzo said it was always clear G-7 was treating them as a junior partner and defended Mr Muthama’s position.

“If Muthama’s mission secures a suitable arrangement that can help this country move forward then we will all follow him,” said the Education minister.

But the VP’s spokesman Mr Kaplich Barsito told the Sunday Nation that: “The Vice President does not approve of nor is he party to any of the statements by Hon Johnstone Muthama regarding a possible alliance with the Prime Minister. He is determined to build a strong alliance with William Ruto and Uhuru Kenyatta that can win the forthcoming election on round one.”