Alliances: Parties rush to catch Kalonzo’s eye

Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka is being avidly courted on three fronts as the major political groupings raced to seal their pre-election alliance deals.

Prime Minister Raila Odinga of ODM, Deputy PM Musalia Mudavadi of UDF and Eldoret North MP William Ruto of URP, who is also linked through the G7 Alliance to Deputy PM Uhuru Kenyatta of the TNA, were all racing to charm Mr Musyoka to their respective groups.

As his suitors circled, Mr Musyoka was locked in a Parliamentary Group meeting of his Wiper Democratic Movement trying to find accord on which group to team up with. (READ: VP’s burden in making a choice)

Mr Odinga took three allies of the VP to his political backyard of Homa Bay where they indicated that the two parties were in talks.

The rally at Sindo Trading Centre comes a day after a five-strong ODM team attended a Wiper rally in Machakos convened by Kangundo MP Johnstone Muthama.

On Monday, former minister Mutua Katuku, Mwingi County Council chairman Musyoka aa Maiyu and former MP Peter Maundu were optimistic of re-uniting Mr Odinga and Mr Musyoka.

“This river (ODM) has no crocodiles as we have studied it and it has met our demands, so we will join hands with it for the good of our people. If anything we were all oranges at some point,” Mr Maiyu said.

Mr Katuku said an Odinga-Musyoka ticket would deliver victory in the first round. “Both WDP and ODM have agreed in principle to work together in the March 4 elections so as to clinch the presidency”, he said.

The push is, however, facing opposition from some key allies of Mr Musyoka who say the PM and the VP cannot work together.

Yatta MP Charles Kilonzo insisted that given their known differences — when they were in the Liberal Democratic Party and later in ODM Kenya — Mr Odinga and Mr Musyoka will be unable to run a government smoothly if they won the election.

“They have demonstrated before that they cannot work together. We do not want a situation where the President and the Deputy President don’t see eye to eye,” he said.

Sources said only Mr Muthama, Education minister Mutula Kilonzo and assistant minister David Musila supported the PM-VP alliance. The VP is also in talks with Mr Mudavadi of the UDF for a pre-election coalition.

Talks between the two parties have progressed steadily with technical teams of Prof Marete Marangu and Prof Wambua Mussili from WDP and Dr Abdirizak Aralr and former Cabinet minister Mukhisa Kituyi tasked to tie up loose ends.

Even as the talks progressed, the VP, who is scheduled to fly out of the country on Tuesday evening, was on Monday night pencilled in for talks with Mr Ruto of URP.

Mr Musyoka quit the G7 Alliance after being proposed for what he thought a derisory post in an alliance fronted by Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ruto. (READ: ODM lauds Kalonzo for ditching G7)

But the latter is still keen to have him on board. Said URP spokesman Aden Duale: “We are meeting VP Kalonzo this (Monday) evening. We want to form an all inclusive coalition.”

Mr Duale said the Uhuru-Ruto axis had agreed on the main details of their coalition which he said will be signed by the December 4 deadline.

“The deal is ready and we will not ask for an extension. It is only a few things which are being ironed out. It will be all inclusive,” he said stating that New Ford Kenya’s Eugene Wamalwa and Narc’s Charity Ngilu were part of the deal.

The deal indicates that TNA and URP will share Cabinet and top government positions on a 50:50 basis with the former sharing its slots with New Ford-K and Narc.

Mr Wamalwa, who is the latest rebel in the G7 Alliance, also met Mr Musyoka in the morning. He and the VP claim they have been short-changed by Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ruto.

At the weekend, Mr Wamalwa who insists that his party should be treated equally in the deal threatened to quit the G7 Alliance for being treated as “a junior partner”.

On Monday evening, Mr Kenyatta was seeking out Mr Wamalwa to stop him from bolting from the G7 Alliance.

“We are still committed to finalising our talks with NFK and these talks will continue until we come to an agreement,” said TNA Chairman Johnson Sakaja.

Reports by Bernard Namunane, Oliver Mathenge, Justus Wanga and Maurice Kaluoch