Ruto thrown in the mix as Nasa shops for leader

Wiper Democratic Movement leader Kalonzo Musyoka and Machakos Wiper gubernatorial aspirant Wavinya Ndeti among other leaders during a past event at Garden Hotel, Machakos. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Led by Kitui Senator Enoch Wambua, MPs from Mr Musyoka’s Wiper Party expressed their willingness to team up with Mr Ruto politically.
  • Dr Khalwale argued that severing political links the Orange Democratic Movement leader is a win-win situation for Ford-Kenya and the Luhya.
  • ODM Secretary-General Edwin Sifuna laughed off Ford-K’s decision to seek Mr Ruto’s support.

Are National Super Alliance bosses Kalonzo Musyoka, Musalia Mudavadi and Moses Wetang’ula shopping around for a new leader following Raila Odinga’s presumed exit or are the three consolidating their base to take a stab at the presidency in 2022?

Ideally, the opposition figures are expected to individually or collectively vie for presidency.

And the apparent exit of Mr Odinga from their midst accords them better space within Nasa to realise that.

However, latest developments seem to suggest otherwise.

Only last Monday, for instance, lawmakers from Mr Musyoka’s Wiper Party paid a courtesy call on Deputy President William Ruto.

TEAM UP WITH RUTO

Led by Kitui Senator Enoch Wambua, the MPs expressed their willingness to team up with Mr Ruto politically.

 Efforts to get a comment from Senator Wambua were unsuccessful as he did not respond to our calls and text messages.

This was the second such organised meeting with the top Jubilee politician, following one by Ford Kenya lawmakers in March.

The team, which met Mr Ruto at his Karen residence, was led by Ford-K Secretary-General Eseli Simiyu, a pointer that it may have had the blessings of Mr Wetang’ula.

The latest developments beg a host of questions. Has the Kalonzo-Mudavadi-Wetang’ula axis began a search for a new leader?

Alternatively, is there a realistic chance that the Nasa three are reaching out to the DP to back the presidential bid of one of them?

Ford-K deputy leader Boni Khalwale told the Nation that the party is indeed attempting to woo the DP to support Mr Wetang’ula.

OPEN MIND

“Those claiming Nasa is shopping around for Raila’s replacement are missing the point. One gets into an alliance with an open mind: to negotiate to lead or be led, and we in Ford Kenya are willing to enter into a pact with Ruto ahead of 2022,” Dr Khalwale said.

The former Kakamega senator argued that severing political links the Orange Democratic Movement leader is a win-win situation for Ford-Kenya and the Luhya.

“The beauty of breaking ranks with Raila is that one of us can be presidential candidate or running mate in 2022. With him in the team, we are forever condemned to play second fiddle since Raila is unwilling to support others,” he said.

Speaking to the Nation by phone from South Africa, ODM Secretary-General Edwin Sifuna laughed off Ford-K’s decision to seek Mr Ruto’s support.

 Basing his argument on past experience, Mr Sifuna said Mr Wetang’ula does not have the capacity to contest the presidency “and is only hiding behind coalitions to make himself attractive to Mr Ruto and others”.

 “The DP is an astute politician who has taste for good things in life and their value. If he was to purchase a piece of land, for instance, he would go for one near a beach or strategically located and not an abandoned quarry that is Wetang’ula,” Mr Sifuna said.

WARMING UP

Although other Nasa affiliate — Wiper and Amani National Congress — have separately been warming up to the DP, Mr Sifuna singled out Ford-Kenya as the weakest link in the coalition’s solidarity.

“While some Wiper MPs have expressed their wish to work with Mr Ruto, I have not heard any of the principals proclaim Nasa’s death as did the Ford-K leader. For your information, my party leader constantly consults Kalonzo and Mudavadi,” he said.

In an apparent response to Mr Wetang’ula’s “dead” remark, Mr Mudavadi came to the defence of Nasa on Wednesday, saying the publicised disagreements notwithstanding, the outfit remains intact.

The one-time vice president, who is the brainchild behind Nasa, said if the alliance were to collapse, Kenyans' faith in democracy and the opposition would be undermined.

He was speaking at Malinya stadium in Ikolomani, Kakamega County.

Dr George Katete, a political scientist, attributes the three leaders’ woes to two major political developments this year, which threw them off balance — the swearing-in of Mr Odinga as the People’s President on January 30 and the much-talked about handshake between him and President Uhuru Kenyatta on March 9.

 ABANDONED SUPPORTERS

 “Miscalculation in politics can damage one almost permanently. The three reportedly abandoned their supporters at the wrong time during Odinga’s swearing-in, when momentum was building in the opposition ranks and revolution was shaping up. Then came the handshake which wrong-footed them,” said the University of Nairobi lecturer, who says the presidential ambitions of Mr Musyoka, Mr Mudavadi and Mr Wetang’ula were dented.

Except for a couple of protest rallies by Mr Wetang’ula in his western Kenya backyard immediately after his removal as Senate minority leader, there has been a lull in the opposition corner since Mr Odinga’s much-publicised handshake with Mr Kenyatta.

Mr Mudavadi initially accompanied Mr Wetang’ula in the rallies in western Kenya, where the two accused Mr Odinga of abandoning the opposition and joining Jubilee government.

The meetings fizzled out even as critics of the three challenged them to demonstrate their political muscle by holding a rally in Nairobi.

Besides the rallies, an insider privy to the Odinga presidential campaigns confided to the Sunday Nation about the efforts taken by the ODM leader in nurturing the opposition, “including putting in place a machinery capable of unearthing scandals in government”.

SACRIFICES

“A lot of sacrifices are made in assembling research teams and whistle blowers, all geared at maintaining momentum for the big seat and keeping the government on its toes. Our three brothers who think they can run the opposition without Raila are clueless and naïve. It is an expensive and time-consuming affair,” the official said.

However, Dr Khalwale said the political marriage in Nasa is over and Ford-K is determined to hold on with others but without ODM.

“Ford-K will field candidates in all the six electoral posts in 2022. We will not be intimidated,” he said.

Dr Katete said the Ford-K reaction is expected at this point.

COALITION

“However, the reality is that even in a coalition, some individuals and parties are more equal than others,” he said.

“What you are witnessing is part of political repositioning. Nonetheless, all players must re-engineer their game, including getting into new alliances.”

Dr Katete does not rule out the possibility of Nasa affiliate parties re-uniting, depending on circumstances of the day.