Raila’s new game plan to check Uhuru-Ruto deal

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By JULIUS SIGEI jsigei@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted  Saturday, November 3  2012 at  00:30

IN SUMMARY

• ODM leader in aggressive push to reach out to Rift Valley voters directly in bid to drum up support for Orange party and persuade Eldoret North MP to join him as was case ahead of the 2007 election
• The deal in which Mr Ruto is to be Mr Kenyatta’s running mate is expected to be officially announced at a rally at Uhuru Park, Nairobi in two weeks.

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Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s plans to take the fight for the Rift Valley vote to Eldoret North MP William Ruto’s door step to try and stop his chief opponents in the presidential race from sweeping the region that overwhelmingly voted ODM in 2007.

The PM’s strategists say Mr Odinga believes that he can still persuade a large number of them to stick with him despite his bitter fallout with Mr Ruto whose United Republican Party (URP) enjoys popularity there. (READ: Raila to camp in Ruto turf)

In addition, Mr Odinga will consider picking a senior leader from the Kalenjin as running mate or the Majority Party Leader to match the deal Mr Ruto has negotiated with Mr Uhuru Kenyatta’s TNA.

The deal in which Mr Ruto is to be Mr Kenyatta’s running mate is expected to be officially announced at a rally at Uhuru Park, Nairobi in two weeks.

Roads minister Franklin Bett, who has been in the forefront in encouraging talks between the Eldoret North MP and the PM, on Friday said Mr Ruto has only one vote, and that it is the people at the grassroots who will eventually decide.

Side of the bargain

“Mr Ruto knows very well that Mr Odinga has accomplished his side of the bargain with the apology he made in Nakuru on Monday,” Mr Bett said. “We shall be telling the people that Ruto misled the Kalenjins in 2002 by urging the region to remain in Kanu when the country had moved on. He did that again in the 2010 referendum on the Constitution,” Mr Bett said.

However, Belgut MP Charles Keter, a co-leader on the joint committee working on the Uhuru-Ruto alliance, dismissed Mr Odinga’s new approach, terming it “desperation by a person who is not going anywhere.” (READ: Raila apologises to Rift Valley)

“We shall leave no doubt as to which direction we shall be taking during the Bomet rally tomorrow [Saturday],” Mr Keter said.

The PM will next Monday meet another group of elders from 21 constituencies in the North Rift.

The PM is also eyeing other leaders of the G-7 alliance who reportedly feel sidelined by Kenyatta and Ruto.

Kangundo MP Johnstone Muthama has in recent weeks insisted that Mr Odinga and Wiper party leader Kalonzo Musyoka are in talks over a possible alliance.

On Friday, Mr Muthama, a close ally of the VP, attended an ODM rally in Homa Bay where he made similar remarks.

Mr Muthama and his counterparts from ODM said the two parties had a common agenda for the country and were thus better off as one.

As a sign that the agreement was at an advanced stage, both Mr Muthama and Immigration Minister Otieno Kajwang’ said there would be a declaration on November 10 in Mbooni constituency at a forum that will be hosted by Wiper secretary-general Mutula Kilonzo.

“The politics of this country will drastically change come November 10 when we finally endorse a pre-election arrangement with ODM,” Mr Muthama said.

But Wiper’s national executive committee has denied there was any alliance.

This is further complicated by the suggestions by people around Mr Ruto and Mr Kenyatta that they have drawn up a power-sharing structure that accommodates Mr Musyoka and Deputy Prime Minister Musalia Mudavadi. The plan is to lock out Mr Odinga completely.