Western Kenya MPs root for a Moi-Mudavadi alliance

Baringo Senator Gideon Moi (left) and ANC party leader Musalia Mudavadi enjoy each other's company during a fundraiser in Kakamega Town on December 1, 2018. Several MPs want the two to campaign for the presidency in 2022 as a team. PHOTO | ISAAC WALE | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Osotsi said ODM, ANC, Kanu and Wiper parties are constituting an new team in preparation for President Kenyatta’s succession.
  • Moi said he is moving across the country consulting, consolidating and making friends who can transform Kenya into a better place.

A group of lawmakers has urged Baringo Senator Gideon Moi to join hands with Amani National Congress leader Musalia Mudavadi to form a strong party that will take over from Jubilee in 2022.

The proposal was endorsed by Mr Christopher Aseka (Khwisero), Mr Godfrey Osotsi (Nominated), Mr William Kamket (Tiaty), Mr Silas Tiren (Moiben), Busia Woman Representative Florence Mutua and former MPs Cyrus Jirongo and Julius Arunga.

They spoke during two harambees presided over by Mr Moi in Kakamega Town and Mulwanda market in Khwisero Sub-County on Sunday.

COHESION

Mr Aseka said the person to succeed President Uhuru Kenyatta will come from the alliance formed by the two.

“I am confident that the next captain for Kenya will be Mudavadi deputised by Moi or vice versa, as Mr Kenyatta and (Orange Democratic Movement leader) Raila Odinga sit on the bench as head coaches,” Mr Aseka said.

Mr Jirongo said Kenyans need to promote peace, love and unity following the truce between President Kenyatta and Mr Odinga on March 9.

"The best captains to promote the cohesion are Moi and Mudavadi," he said.

“President Daniel arap Moi was in power for 24 years because he understood the importance of peace and unity. I know his son has inherited the same, and together with Mr Mudavadi he can take the country in the right direction. The other camp only knows chest-thumping.”

ALLIANCE

Mr Osotsi said ODM, ANC, Kanu and Wiper parties are constituting an new team in preparation for President Kenyatta’s succession.

“We are preparing our troops before we declare who will be what. Political kingpins from all regions will sit and give us a presidential flagbearer,” he said.

The lawmaker asked the Baringo senator to reach out to Kakamega Governor Wycliffe Oparanya and "include him in the team that will form the next government".

“Witnessing what Mr Oparanya has done in Kakamega, he is not a man anyone would wish to ignore,” Mr Osotsi said.

Mr Tiren said Mr Moi's team is reaching out to elected leaders "in order to steer the country in a new political direction".

INTEGRITY

He said Kenyans should not give power to people who have dipped their fingers in public coffers and those implicated in the sugar and maize scandals.

“We need to elect leaders who respect the sovereignty of the people and have the interests of the masses at heart,” Mr Tiren said.

For his part, Mr Moi said he is moving across the country consulting, consolidating and making friends "who can transform Kenya into a better place, free of corruption and ethnicity".

He dismissed the ongoing 2022 presidential campaigns as premature and instead called on leaders to address the development needs of the electorate.

"Plans are underway to strengthen President Kenyatta’s Big Four Agenda so that Kenyans can have universal healthcare, better housing and food," he said at St Stephen’s Mulwanda ACK church.

RUTO

Mr Moi said he was impressed by the warm welcome he received in Kakamega Town.

But former Kakamega Senator Boni Khalwale has laughed off Baringo Senator Gideon Moi’s 2022 presidential ambitions.

Speaking at Shitoli Catholic Church in Ikolomani, the Ford-Kenya deputy party leader cautioned Mr Moi against equating himself to Deputy President William Ruto.

“Mr Moi lacks the numbers and popularity to clinch the post, unlike Ruto who is well-equipped,” he said.

He noted that Mr Ruto had become a household name in western region unlike Mr Moi who would wander around an entire village without being recognised if he were to land unannounced.