Team of experts crafting Nasa power deal

Opposition leaders (from left) Kalonzo Musyoka, Moses Wetang'ula, Musalia Mudavadi and Raila Odinga at Nairobi Serena Hotel on January 31, 2017. PHOTO | EVANS OUMA

What you need to know:

  • The team has been tasked with developing the framework for conducting nominations for the joint presidential candidate and nomination rules for other elective positions.
  • The team has been working under the coordination of a political elite group led by Siaya Senator James Orengo and his Machakos counterpart Johnson Muthama.
  • The committee is laying down structures to be used by the Nasa leadership and working on power sharing proposals.
  • The coordinating team is expected to give a preliminary report to the principals within the week before a final position is reported next week.

Economist David Ndii is leading a six-member team preparing a formula to be used to pick the opposition National Super Alliance presidential candidate.

Even though the team is a top secret within opposition circles, sources on Sunday revealed that they are expected to hand over their report to the four Nasa principals next week.

The six have also been tasked with developing the framework for conducting nominations for the joint presidential candidate, nomination rules for other elective positions and the structure that the opposition coalition will adopt.

The team includes East African Legislative Assembly member Abubakar Zein, chairman of Mumia Sugar Company Dan Ameyo, public policy expert and former consultant in former Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s office Koitamet ole Kina and Cord Secretariat executive director Norman Magaya. The sixth member of the team, a lady who was the latest inclusion, is a nominee of Ford Kenya.

Mr Magaya is the secretary of the technical committee whose activities are partially managed from Mr Odinga’s Capitol Hill offices.

The team has been working under the coordination of a political elite group led by Siaya Senator James Orengo and his Machakos counterpart Johnson Muthama. Also at the peak of the Nasa planning team is Tongaren MP Eseli Simiyu.

OPERATIONS CONFIDENTIAL

On Sunday, Mr Orengo declined to discuss the matter, arguing that the committee operations were confidential.

“These are not matters to be discussed anyhow. They are highly confidential and very sensitive,” he said.

The committee is laying down structures to be used by the Nasa leadership and working on power sharing proposals.

“The committee is working on the proposed structures, framework for nominations both for president and other positions,” said a member of the team who asked not to be named discussing confidential matters.

The Daily Nation established that the committee is keen on joint nominations for all positions to enhance Nasa’s chances of controlling both the Senate and the National Assembly, as well as the counties.
“We want to advise the principals to avoid divisive politics at the grassroots. If we can do joint party primaries the better,” said the source.

Already, ODM and Wiper Democratic Movement have broken ranks in some areas including Garissa and Mombasa where the parties have lined up candidates to separately take on each other.

In Mombasa, Wiper’s Hassan Omar is leaving his senatorial position to fight it out with Governor Hassan Joho of ODM, while in Garissa, ODM is sponsoring Nassir Dolal to run for the Garissa Township parliamentary seat after former speaker Farah Maalim decamped to wiper.

The coordinating team is expected to give a preliminary report to the principals within the week before a final position is reported next week.

Various options for picking the opposition presidential candidate will be tabled, including consensus and nominations through delegates.

TAKE OVER POWER

Already the registration formalities are under way, with agents picking names from among supporters in the counties to be presented to the Registrar of Political Parties after the name was reserved several weeks ago.

“Nasa is coming out a strong force. We hope to build it into a movement that can take over power and save Kenya from the hustles of corruption, economic failure, dictatorship and incompetence,” said Suna East MP Junet Mohammed.

Vihiga Senator George Khaniri says that the secret of Nasa’s expected victory lies in the joint candidate the coalition will pick.

“It is important that the coalition agree on one candidate and work on a strategy similar to Narc of 2002. Nothing is impossible,” said Mr Khaniri.

But there are still fears that some of the coalition bigwigs maybe be tempted with offers by government supporters.

“We fear that government agents may be seeing some of our critical members. There is an operation to scatter our unity, which may be disastrous. We only pray that God will intervene. The offers are tempting,” said an MP who is following developments in the coalition.

Determined to take the fight to the door of Jubilee’s President Uhuru Kenyatta, Nasa has released nine pledges to Kenyans, among them uniting the country across the ethnic divide and increasing funding for counties from the current 15 per cent to 50 per cent of revenue.

They have promised free education from nursery to secondary school, proper healthcare, and a food-secure nation.

Dubbed Kenya Kwanza, the pledges outline provision of democratic, transparent and inclusive governance, eradication of corruption and proper management of the economy.