Monday, November 12, 2012

Turf wars delay the signing of G7 power pact


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MPs Charity Ngilu, Eugene Wamalwa, Uhuru Kenyatta, Najib Balala, Kiema Kilonzo and Musikari Kombo, when they visited Burundi’s President Pierre Nkurunziza on November 7, 2012. Photo/FILE
MPs Charity Ngilu, Eugene Wamalwa, Uhuru Kenyatta, Najib Balala, Kiema Kilonzo and Musikari Kombo, when they visited Burundi’s President Pierre Nkurunziza on November 7, 2012. Photo/FILE  NATION MEDIA GROUP
By NATION TEAM newsdesk@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted  Monday, November 12  2012 at  00:30
IN SUMMARY
  • On his part, Mr Wamalwa (New Ford Kenya) is pushing for a quick deal to ensure that UDF presidential aspirant Musalia Mudavadi does not join the alliance.
  • The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has set December 4 as the deadline for political parties which want to enter into coalitions to submit the deals to the Registrar of Political Parties.
  • Mr Mwakwere said Kaya elders had warned him against working with Mr Balala in any coalition.
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Turf wars involving Cabinet ministers Charity Ngilu and Eugene Wamalwa are delaying the signing of a pre-election coalition deal by presidential aspirants in the G7 Alliance, we can reveal.
Sources close to the negotiations between Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta (TNA) and Eldoret North MP William Ruto (URP) say the latter’s team is wary of the pace with which the two ministers want the pact concluded.
MPs who have been attending the negotiations said Mrs Ngilu’s Narc wants the deal signed as soon as possible to eliminate the possibility of her political rival, Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka, being brought on board. It is instructive that Mr Musyoka has already withdrawn from the political grouping.
On his part, Mr Wamalwa (New Ford Kenya) is pushing for a quick deal to ensure that UDF presidential aspirant Musalia Mudavadi does not join the alliance.
On Sunday, in what could add to the cracks that have already emerged in the G7 Alliance following threats by Cabinet minister Chirau Ali Mwakwere and assistant minister Kazungu Kambi to quit, Mrs Ngilu said she would talk to other leaders since the deal had not been signed.
“I haven’t signed any pre-election coalition with Uhuru and Ruto; we are just engaging each other as party leaders and my party will continue to consult across the divide,” she said by phone from Mombasa.
The Water minister said her recent dalliance with Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ruto did not mean she had severed links with Prime Minister Raila Odinga. Her ally, Mutito MP Kiema Kilonzo, however, said their decision to join the G7 Alliance was not meant to kick out Mr Musyoka who has since pulled out.
“When we joined, we wanted the entire (Kamba) community to be part of the coalition because we knew he was there. We are surprised that he has bolted out,” he said by phone.
It is not lost on observers that despite her active engagement with Mr Odinga’s rivals in the next elections, the PM and his ODM allies have kept a studious silence.
The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has set December 4 as the deadline for political parties which want to enter into coalitions to submit the deals to the Registrar of Political Parties.
URP’s Charles Keter said Mr Wamalwa and Mrs Ngilu were negotiating directly with Mr Kenyatta’s TNA without their involvement.
“They have been talking with TNA for long and all we know is that it will be an agreement between them. We will come on board after that,” said the Belgut MP.
The URP spokesman said the party was still holding talks with Mr Mudavadi and Mr Musyoka to form a broad coalition. “We in URP are talking to Kalonzo and Musalia. We believe in unity of the country and we are working for a united Kenya.”
At the Coast, Mr Mwakwere and Mr Kambi have declared that they would rather defect from the G7 Alliance than share a table with Mr Najib Balala of the Republican Congress Party. The two are members of Mr Ruto’s URP.
“We as Mijikenda leaders will not accept Mr Balala to be the Coast leader in the G7 political pact. We cannot accept to play second fiddle — not any more,” said Mr Kambi.
He challenged Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ruto to pick the region’s spokesman from the Mijikenda community.
Mr Mwakwere, who is also the Matuga MP, said Kaya elders had warned him against working with Mr Balala in any coalition. (READ: Cracks in G7 as allies in Coast reject Balala)
On Sunday, Likoni politician Khamis Ali Domoko told off Mr Mwakwere and Mr Kambi, saying they did not have the people’s mandate to choose leaders for them.
But Coast Women and Youth for G7 Alliance lobby warned the alliance against making Mr Balala its pointman in the region because he was not widely popular. Bomu Kaya elders from Kaloleni constituency asked the ministers not to incite the residents against Mr Balala.

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