Kalonzo engages high gear in campaign for top seat

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FILE | NATION Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka addresses a crowd in Nyansiongo town, Nyamira County, last week. Mr Musyoka has said he is best placed to succeed President Kibaki given his vast experience in government 

By JACOB NG’ETICH, jngetich@ke.nationmedia.com and JULIUS SIGEI jsigei@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted  Saturday, July 30  2011 at  19:42

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Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka has taken his campaign for next year’s General Election a notch higher, complete with a rebranding of his ODM-Kenya party.

In the past week, the VP has pulled out all the stops, holding rallies in Kisii as well as addressing a National Wiper Women’s Congress in Nairobi on Thursday.
In an interview with the Sunday Nation on the sidelines of the meeting, Mr Musyoka said he was best placed to succeed President Kibaki because of his vast experience in government.

“I, together with the late Tanzanian President Julius Nyerere, worked for the peace in the Great Lakes region and later worked for the stability of South Sudan which recently got independence,” said the VP, adding that he helped end the violence after the 2007 elections.

He also said the G-7 alliance that brings him, Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta and Eldoret North MP William Ruto together with other politicians, was still intact and members have worked out a formula that will ensure one of them wins the presidency.

“We are studying examples from all over the world, and we are zeroing in on the Malaysian model where 14 parties are comfortably sharing power,” he said. And he reached out to women voters by promising a 50-50 power-sharing formula. “For us (ODM-K), the one-third threshhold is actually too low. We advocate a 50-50 arrangement,” he said, but he would not elaborate how that would be achieved.

“Immediately after the holy month of Ramadhan, I will make a major announcement,” he said.

But the VP will still have to contend with Mr Ruto and Mr Kenyatta, who opinion polls have indicated stand a better chance of winning than he does. “The two are also not very comfortable working with Mr Musyoka whom they see as an opportunist out to reap big if they were to be indicted by the International Criminal Court,” said political analyst Herbert Kerre.

Mr Kenyatta, Mr Ruto and four other Kenyans have been named by ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo as suspected masterminds of the post-election violence and have a date at the Hague-based court in September for a confirmation of charges.

Compromise candidate

“He can be a compromise candidate. His chances hinge on a number of things, like in the event that Uhuru and Ruto fail to vie because of the ICC case. However, he will not be a convincing candidate for the Kenyan voter because of credibility issues. His acceptance of the vice-presidency after the bungled presidency did not go down well with many Kenyans.

This was again heightened by his perceived indecisiveness during the 2010 referendum on the new Constitution,” said Mr Kerre.

His sentiments were shared by Moi University don Prof Peter Simatei who said the VP had not come out strongly enough in support of any cause, which makes him come across as untrustworthy.

But another analyst, Prof Macharia Munene, said Mr Musyoka stands a very good chance of winning the presidency as Mr Kibaki was not contesting the seat, which means he could benefit from the President’s supporters. “Another advantage is that the field is crowded, thus the VP could gain a comparative advantage given his position in government as the second-in-command,” he said.

He added that because of the wrangles in ODM – where Prime Minister Raila Odinga and Mr Ruto’s political conflicts are playing out – the VP has the opportunity to build his party into a formidable political force.

Nominated MP Shakila Abdalla said she would mobilise women to support Mr Musyoka’s bid.

“Mr Musyoka is a serious candidate in the next elections and a front runner. We will ensure that he gets a lot of votes from women to see him through,” she said. 

A meeting on July 27 of ODM-K’s National Executive Council and Parliamentary Group approved changing the party symbol from one and a half oranges to a tricolour umbrella in sky blue, white and earth red.

“Sky blue stands for the future, white for the peace that we gave the country in the 2007 elections, and earth red signifies the aspirations, excitement and vibrancy of Kenyans,” said Justice minister Mutula Kilonzo who is also the party’s secretary-general.
The VP will also have to contend with the relatively small number of counties in his Ukambani backyard.

The new Constitution states that for a presidential candidate to be declared the winner, he or she has to obtain 25 per cent of the vote in at least 24 of the 47 counties, in addition to getting 50 per cent plus one votes in the national tally.

This may be one reason why he has made an early start on the campaign trail.