Mudavadi: Nasa cash link in ANC, Ford-Kenya woes

Amani National Congress leader Musalia Mudavadi addresses mourners at a funeral in Gem, Siaya County , on March 7, 2020. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP


What you need to know:

  • The ANC leader said ODM has has gone back on a formula to share the cash, estimated to be over Sh4.5 billion, and has resulted in sponsoring chaos in the two parties after their leaders demanded the money be shared.
  • Mr Mudavadi said the Nasa coalition agreement had a clear formula on how the money was to be shared, but he claimed ODM has deliberately refused to share it.

The upheavals in both the Ford-Kenya and Amani National Congress (ANC) parties in recent weeks have everything to do with sharing money from the Political Parties Fund, Mr Musalia Mudavai has said.

 The ANC leader said ODM has gone back on a formula to share the cash, estimated to be over Sh4.5 billion, and has resulted in sponsoring chaos in the two parties after their leaders demanded the money be shared.

 In an interview with the Sunday Nation, Mr Mudavadi said the Nasa coalition agreement had a clear formula on how the money was to be shared, but he claimed ODM has deliberately refused to share it.

“My hunch is they are reluctant to share the money, yet it is in the agreement. You have seen there is political destabilisation ongoing in total disregard of Covid-19 rules. Those schemes won’t succeed. It does not help to undermine political parties. ANC is very stable, so is Ford-Kenya and so are other parties,” he said

He said there have been discussions through the management committees of the parties but they have not been successful.

“We have to exhaust the mechanisms before engaging another gear. So far no political party has moved to the tribunal. There is correspondence between the parties and Registrar of Political Parties,” he said.

Under the Nasa coalition agreement, a financial oversight committee was to be formed after the 2017 elections that would then map out how much each party was to get, based on votes it contributed to the presidential election and strength in Parliament, among other guidelines.

The money was to be put in an escrow account that would then be shared out after the committee findings.

ODM party secretary-seneral Edwin Sifuna poured cold water on the ANC leader’s assertions.

“The August 2017 elections were nullified, therefore they cannot be used. We did not participate in the repeat presidential election and therefore we did not get a cent from the Registrar of Political Parties based on the presidential election. On the strength of political parties in Parliament, the agreement was based on joint nominations, this did not happen. In essence we owe them no money,” he said, adding that ODM will not give money to its opponents.

Mr Mudavadi derided a team of leaders from the region, calling them Kajiado sky-team.

“Kajiado sky-team comprised a Cabinet secretary (CS) and two governors running around violating all the rules. What is the urgency and there are two years to the election. Same CS is sitting in Cabinet, thus exposing the President to Covid-19,” he posed.

The team has the blessings of Cotu leader Francis Atwoli, who resides in Kajiado and hosted the delegation of Devolution CS Eugene Wamalwa and governors Wycliffe Wangamati and Wycliffe Oparanya, among other leaders.

Mr Wetang’ula has been facing a rebellion in his party, with secretary-general Eseli Simiyu leading a faction that installed Kanduyi MP Wafula Wamunyinyi as the party leader.

Mr Mudavadi is also facing a rebellion led by nominated MP Geodfrey Osotsi.

Mr Mudavadi claimed all the political upheavals in the Western region have the blessings of ODM leader Raila Odinga.

“I have supported Mr Odinga since 2005. As per the agreement, he can’t run for the presidency as long as this agreement is alive. That is why he wants Nasa destroyed. He has not honoured any coalition he entered with President Daniel Moi, Simeon Nyachae, President Mwai Kibaki and even this one with us,” he said.

He added: “That speaks volumes, you are signalling to the country you are the most unreliable coalition partner. We are principled and we stood for something and in life you cannot live permanently in an abusive engagement.”

ANC has 13 members of Parliament.

Mr Mudavadi said Nasa is feeling betrayed because the ideals it thought the leaders will uphold have fallen between the crevices.

“Some Nasa affiliates have become more Jubilee than Jubilee itself. I have always stated our Constitution recognises a majority and a minority. We have challenged ODM to exit Nasa and work with Jubilee freely, yet they insist they won’t sign a coalition agreement with Jubilee,” he said.

ANC, he said, supports the government only on issues that are in public interest. He has not been approached for a seat in the Cabinet, he said, and even if it was to happen he won’t join.

“I am alive to the fact that new political coalitions will emerge as elections approach. Dynamism will play through because 2022 is on the way. Clearly, someone does not want to be seen as the one who let Kenyans down by leaving Nasa and that’s the intrigue around Western Kenya,” he said.

He said he will be running for the presidency and that has led to forces trying to destabilise him.

“The intrigue is because Mudavadi has declared his interest to vie for the presidency and therefore the game is to destabilise his party and the person, so that you can scatter the votes for someone else to be the beneficiary of his votes,” he said.

Debates around a referendum are organised around parties that is how ODM emerged, URP came from the 2010 referendum, so political parties become critical.

Mr Mudavadi refused to be drawn into the debate on whether President Kenyatta should continue in a leadership after 2022.

“The Constitution should be respected as it is. If it is changed,  we will cross the bridge when we reach there,” he said.

He said Nasa is still intact as far as the law is concerned.

“But regular meetings and other interfaces have not been happening,” he said.

He added: “There are three ways one can engage with other parties - coalition, where there is a legal instrument, cooperation, and cohabitation, where there is no basis at all. We at ANC will not do any of the three.”

He said Wiper and Chama Cha Mashinani (CCM) are yet to write to ANC as coalition partners on their decision to work with Jubilee.

The Nasa coalition was cobbled up in the run-up to the 2017 General Election, bringing together ODM, ANC, Ford-Kenya, Wiper and CCM.

 Since the March 2018 Handshake between Mr Odinga and President Kenyatta, the state of the coalition has remained shaky.

 The decision by Wiper and CCM to sign a cooperation agreement with Jubilee now puts into focus how long it will take for the coalition to disintegrate officially.