Uhuru’s unity pact strategy revealed

By Francis Ngige

 Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta is turning to political parties for a unity pact after talks with leaders hit a brick wall.

The Standard On Sunday has learnt that The National Alliance (TNA) is already working on a structured agreement between “friendly” parties to be deposited with Registrar of Political Parties before elections if a deal is reached.

Following the collapse of earlier talks championed by some political leaders, TNA is now negotiating with other political parties to create a formidable alliance with the force of parties not mere individuals.

Rounds of talks between TNA, GNU, Party of National Unity (PNU) and Alliance Party of Kenya have been going on and the parties are believed to be closing on a deal, according to a leaked Unity Pact Document.

The memorandum titled ‘Proposed Unity Pact for like-minded Political Parties’, envisages a situation where all the parties will have a structured pre-election agreement under which they would nominate candidates for various seats.

“As inter-parties negotiations take place in a process sanctioned by their individual parties, this should be geared towards constituting a unity pact that can be trusted to make critical decisions on the roadmap to the implementation of the unity pact.”

“The negotiation structures should not be circumvented for the sake of expediency or create unnecessary veils of secrecy. In order to have a win-win situation, it is essential that there is sufficient collaboration and accommodation,” the document explains.

Important deal

If the deal goes through, parties will have agreed on a specific formula through which they will name a presidential candidate, candidates for gubernatorial posts, the national assembly and the senate.

The document, whose authenticity has been verified, compares different scenarios through which the partner parties would work to maximise benefits on elections.

Yesterday, Uhuru’s spokesman Munyori Buku confirmed the DPM was keen on an agreement with political parties rather than just individuals.

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