Mudavadi, VP close to power deal

File | Nation
Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka.

What you need to know:

  • Small team of negotiators meets in Mombasa and says it has made a breakthrough on coalition structure

Talks on a coalition structure between Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka and Deputy Prime Minister Musalia Mudavadi have been concluded.

A team of negotiators from the United Democratic Forum (UDF) and the Wiper Democratic Party concluded the talks in Mombasa on Friday.

The talks, which are likely to complicate Prime Minister Raila Odinga and his deputy Uhuru Kenyatta’s campaign strategies, involved experts and MPs. (READ: G7 Alliance leaders now reach out to Kalonzo and Mudavadi)

The two parties are intent on countering Mr Odinga and Mr Kenyatta in the coming elections.

The team of negotiators also profiled the strengths and weaknesses of the two candidates and weighed the possibilities which will be presented to the candidates by their representatives before the negotiations are moved to the next level.

On Monday, Mr Musyoka and Mr Mudavadi met before they each named two experts to join an already existing team of coalition makers comprising Ikolomani MP Boni Khalwale and Ndaragwa MP Jeremiah Kioni for the UDF while assistant minister David Musila and Yatta MP Charles Kilonzo represented Mr Musyoka.

High placed government sources told the Saturday Nation that the desire to pair Mr Mudavadi with Mr Musyoka has been precipitated by a county-to-county-based intelligence report said to have projected a possible win by Mr Kenyatta.

Analysts believe a coalition between the two stands a better chance of defeating either Mr Odinga or Mr Kenyatta in a presidential run-off.

On Friday, Mr Khalwale said that the eight-man team that has been meeting in seclusion at a Mombasa hotel had gained considerable grounds.

“The chemistry of Mudavadi and Kalonzo has conclusively been matched. What we want is to be careful not to behave like Uhuru and Ruto did before the VP left them,” he said.

The Ikolomani MP said, however that details of the Mombasa negotiations could not be revealed. He said Mr Musyoka and Mr Mudavadi would make public the content of their talks if the ongoing talks with Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ruto, who lead the G7 Alliance, fail to succeed.

Well-placed sources indicated that the schemers of the Mudavadi-Musyoka outfit have also asked the two leaders to go full throttle into confrontation with the G7 leaders as they worm their way into the hearts of Kenyan voters.

Reputation

Mr Mudavadi recently asked Kenyans to think about the reputation of the country as they elect new leaders, a statement interpreted as an assault on Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ruto.

Mr Musyoka also went rough against the two when he warned Mr Ruto to be careful with the coalition pact he and Mr Kenyatta were working on.

On Friday, Mr Musyoka’s close confidant, Mr Mohammed Affey, said the Wiper party had fully endorsed talks with Mr Mudavadi. Asked whether Mr Musyoka was now ready to play second fiddle in a coalition arrangement, Mr Affey said Wiper would not put forward any unrealistic conditions.

“The alliance between Kalonzo and Mudavadi is not about countering or blocking Raila or Uhuru but one that is engaging on ways of forming the best government for Kenyans. We also recognise that Kalonzo is a sitting Vice-President,” Mr Affey said.

Mr Mudavadi on Thursday declared that he was open to negotiations, but warned those who wanted to work with him to be ready to work under him.

Mr Kioni, who is part of the negotiating team, said an interesting breakthrough had been made. “Very soon, we will make the details of these talks known. Things are going on well, and we are sure that this is the coalition that will form the next government” he said.

The MPs, however, insisted that the Mudavadi-Musyoka alliance was not State funded, adding that the two leaders had come together voluntarily.