Uhuru, Ruto for joint ticket

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PHOTO | FILE Eldoret North MP William Ruto and Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta chat during a prayer rally in Ndaragwa, Nyandarua County, early this year. The two leaders of URP and TNA respectively have agreed to form a pre-election pact.  NATION MEDIA GROUP

By MUGUMO MUNENE mmunene@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted  Saturday, October 20  2012 at  23:30

IN SUMMARY

• The full details of the arrangement, which is still at its early stages, emerged as the two leaders said they would run on a joint ticket in what they consider to be “a referendum on The Hague process”
• The agreement was reached in a meeting in Nairobi between the two leaders, the Sunday Nation established
• The two leaders confirmed to the Sunday Nation that in the proposed formula, one of the two parties that they head will take the presidency while the other will take the deputy presidency and the parliamentary majority leader
• Should the new arrangement work, it would upset alliance negotiations between Prime Minister Raila Odinga and Mr Ruto as the PM seeks to shore up his political clout in the race for the presidency

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Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta will be the joint TNA and URP presidential candidate with Eldoret North MP William Ruto as his running mate in a new power-sharing formula hammered out this week.

The full details of the arrangement, which is still at its early stages, emerged as the two leaders said they would run on a joint ticket in what they consider to be “a referendum on The Hague process”.

The two party leaders are facing crimes against humanity cases at the International Criminal Court over the 2007/08 post-election violence.

The cases are due to begin on April 11, 2013. In case of a runoff in the presidential race, it is expected that this would complicate matters for the duo if they happen to be in the race then.

The agreement was reached in a meeting in Nairobi between the two leaders, the Sunday Nationestablished. It was a follow-up to the exclusive meeting that Mr Ruto held with a section of Rift Valley MPs in his house to discuss proposals for political alliances between URP and other parties.

The two leaders confirmed to the Sunday Nation that in the proposed formula, one of the two parties that they head will take the presidency while the other will take the deputy presidency and the parliamentary majority leader. (Read: Aspirants explain scramble for alliances ahead of polls)

“We are agreeing that the side that will have the presidency will give up the deputy presidency and the majority leader,” Mr Ruto said. “We want to have a formula that will win the elections decisively in round one.”

Should the new arrangement work, it would upset alliance negotiations between Prime Minister Raila Odinga and Mr Ruto as the PM seeks to shore up his political clout in the race for the presidency.

In addition, the two leaders propose that TNA and URP and their affiliate parties will share nominations to the 66 executive positions in government equally.

The 66 positions that they are targeting in the power-sharing formula include cabinet secretaries, deputy cabinet secretaries and principal secretaries.

The Constitution provides for a maximum of 22 Cabinet positions which is what a 10-member team appointed by Mr Ruto and Mr Kenyatta to work out the finer details are working with.

In addition, Mr Ruto said that he and Mr Kenyatta would reach out to other parties including Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka’s Wiper Democratic Movement, New Ford-Kenya which is under the leadership of Justice minister Eugene Wamalwa, Najib Balala’s Republican Congress Party and Ford-People.

The parties are likely to be considered for positions such as that of House Majority Leader, Senate Majority Leader, House Speaker and Senate Speaker, if they come on board.

Senior position

The House Majority Leader is considered to be a senior position because government will be conducting its affairs in Parliament through the office in the new constitutional order.

“We believe in building a coalition that will bring healing to the nation and to lay a solid base for a round one win. It will be a direct referendum on Uhuru and me and The Hague issue,” Mr Ruto said.

The 10 party members – five from URP and five from TNA – have been mandated to work out the details ahead of yet another meeting which Mr Ruto and Mr Kenyatta are scheduled to hold this week.

The meetings that took place last week were a culmination of previous ones where the two leaders have been poring over what possibilities they could pursue in their quest for power. The lunch meeting held at the Norfolk with the VP four weeks ago was one of such meetings, Mr Ruto said.

“At the Thursday meeting, we decided to expand the engagement beyond the two of us and appointed five people from my side and five from Uhuru’s side to work out the details,” Mr Ruto said.

The URP leader also confirmed that he had been approached by ODM leaders who want him to form a coalition with Mr Odinga but he had dropped the idea “after comparing notes with Uhuru”.

It has become clear from interviews with the two leaders and their lieutenants that the cases they face at the ICC is the biggest item for consideration as they consider their options on the 2013 General Election.

“We looked at it and thought that he (Mr Odinga) might use The Hague issue to wind us up politically. We were not sure. With these constant statements from Western nations and (former UN secretary general) Kofi Annan, we realised that The Hague is a big political issue,” Mr Ruto told the Sunday Nation.

The ICC has said that it will not interfere in Kenya’s electoral process but a group of activists has filed a case in court arguing that Mr Ruto and Mr Kenyatta should be barred from running on the basis of integrity standard.

They are relying on Chapter Six of the Constitution, which demands high levels of integrity for leaders and say Mr Ruto and Mr Kenyatta fall short because they stand accused of crimes against humanity.

On the other hand the two leaders have maintained that they are innocent until proven guilty and say that they see nothing that would stop them from running for elections.

The two politicians met on Thursday night in Mr Ruto’s Karen home in the company of select party MPs and set the rules of engagement for their parties.

The meeting came just a day after Mr Ruto hosted MPs allied to URP and briefed them on earlier approaches by ODM proposing a coalition as leaders seek means of ensuring that they are part of the next government.

Cabinet minister Jamleck Kamau, Juja MP William Kabogo and Nominated MP Rachael Shebesh accompanied Mr Kenyatta, while assistant minister Kazungu Kambi, and MPs Charles Keter (Belgut) and Isaac Ruto (Chepalungu) formed Mr Ruto’s team.

Confirming the meeting, Mr Kambi said: “We met and we have agreed and mandated our candidate to engage with TNA. That is why Mr Kenyatta came to see us. We will continue talking.” He said the party had mandated Mr Ruto to seek alliances with other leaders to form a winning team.

“We do not want to close the door on anyone. We want to even talk to Raila, Kalonzo and Mudavadi.”