Opposition coalition chiefs meet in city as retreat fails
From left (seated), Opposition leaders Musalia Mudavadi (Amani), Kalonzo Musyoka (Wiper), Raila Odinga (ODM) and Moses Wetang'ula (Ford-K) sign an agreement in Nairobi on February 22, 2017. FILE PHOTO | COURTESY
What you need to know:
- Nasa principals held a nearly two-and-a-half-hour meeting at Mr Odinga’s Capitol Hill offices in Upper Hill, Nairobi, on the thorny issue of picking Nasa’s presidential candidate and running mate in the August 8 General Election.
- Several members of Nasa’s National Co-ordinating Committee, who had accompanied their party leaders to the meeting, were however locked out.
- The Wiper and ANC leaders are said to have met at a friend’s house, then drove to the Ford-K leader’s residence in Karen.
National Super Alliance (Nasa) principals Raila Odinga, Musalia Mudavadi, Moses Wetang’ula and Kalonzo Musyoka on Tuesday resumed talks on how to share power if the coalition wins the August 8 elections.
The quartet held a nearly two-and-a-half-hour meeting at Mr Odinga’s Capitol Hill offices in Upper Hill, Nairobi, on the thorny issue of picking Nasa’s presidential candidate and running mate in the polls, as well as the status of the coalition.
Several members of Nasa’s National Co-ordinating Committee (NCC), who had accompanied their party leaders to the meeting, were, however, locked out.
“We, members of the NCC, came in as supporters of political party leaders, but they requested that we leave them to deliberate on the issues among themselves, so I do not know what they discussed,” Kakamega Senator Boni Khalwale, one of the 12 committee members, told the Nation.
The meeting started at 11.30am and ended at about 2pm.
DECLARED SUPPORT
The Chama Cha Mashinani (CCM) leader, Bomet Governor Isaac Ruto, who has declared his support for the opposition alliance, did not, however, attend the meeting, with sources saying he was held up in his county.
“He is busy with the nominations,” said an aide. “We are finishing the exercise today in Bomet, so he had to be here.”
At the failed retreat, scheduled for between Monday and today, the four principals and Mr Ruto were to agree on Nasa’s presidential candidate, running mate and the positions the remaining members would assume should the coalition win.
The failure was blamed on various factors, among them a delay by the NCC to process a power-sharing document that was to guide the deliberations.
There was also a feeling among some of the principals that it would be inappropriate to hold the retreat while their various parties were conducting primaries, with a close ally of one of the principals arguing that “their intervention may be needed anytime”.
STICKY ISSUE
It also emerged that Mr Musyoka, Mr Mudavadi and Mr Wetang’ula met on Monday night to discuss the sticky issue of Nasa’s presidential candidate and the failure by the NCC and the technical team to submit a report by Friday.
The Wiper and ANC leaders are said to have met at a friend’s house, before driving to the Ford-K leader’s residence in Karen. The meeting ended at midnight.
It is said that the trio discussed the presidential pairing and preferred government structure. Sources said questions were raised about the relationship between the the NCC and the technical committee and that the meeting concurred the former had failed.
The Nation also learnt that the power-sharing agreement was being re-drafted to accommodate CCM’s interests.
Speaking in Bomet on Tuesday, Mr Ruto confirmed that his party had officially joined Nasa as a coalition partner on equal terms with the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), Amani National Congress (ANC), Wiper Democratic Movement and Ford-Kenya.
COALITION PARTNER
“CCM is joining Nasa as a coalition partner on equal terms with the rest of the parties already in the coalition,” said Mr Ruto in an interview. “We are not teaming up with a particular individual but parties with similar ideals.”
The former Council of Governors chairman said he would meet the other Nasa principals in due course to thrash out the finer details of the engagement and to formalise it.
Mr Ruto explained that he had declined to enter a similar pact with the Jubilee Party after its leadership insisted he wind up his party.
“Jubilee became difficult in dealing with CCM,” said Mr Ruto. “We tried to contact them in vain as its leadership insisted that we must wind up our party and transit to theirs.”
He said that was in contrast to Jubilee’s position on Martha Karua’s Narc-Kenya, Meru Governor Peter Munya’s Party of National Unity (PNU), Mandera Senator Billow Kerrow’s Economic Freedom Party (EFP) and former Gatanga MP Peter Kenneth’s Kenya National Congress (KNC), which, despite supporting Jubilee, still exists.
He also cited his personal differences with Deputy President William Ruto, which he said had deteriorated.
