Mudavadi denies being part of G7

By Tobias Chanji and Ernest Ndunda

United Democratic Front (UDF) presidential hopeful Musalia Mudavadi has insisted that he has never been in the G7 Alliance.

He further said he had not consulted any of the alliance aspirants in his quest for the presidency.

Addressing various party aspirants in Ukunda, Kwale County, Mudavadi claimed the alleged consultation with G7 Alliance was a creation of the media to discredit him by insinuating that he was a lone ranger after being dumped by the alliance.

“I want to remind people that I have never been in G7 Alliance and it should also be understood that when I wanted to vie for presidency in Kenya I never consulted any of the members, neither do I depend on them,” Mudavadi said.

“The media has reported that I have been left out by G7, but I want to put the record straight that I have never belonged there. Therefore how can I be left out in a group that I did not belong to in the first place? That doesn’t mean that I also don’t have friends in other parties. We have friends in all parties but my agenda is to unite all Kenyans,” he added.

In a recent meeting by The National Alliance (TNA) leader Uhuru Kenyatta, United Republican Party (URP) leader William Ruto and Kalonzo Musyoka of the Wiper Democratic Party where there were plans for an alliance, Mudavadi said he was not informed of the meeting but did not rule out such talks in future if they would share principles.

Ideologies

“We don’t want to enter into any coalition just because of elections but on ideologies. It will be difficult to work together,” he explained.

He at the same time fought off the notion that the party has lost some of its members through defection by saying the said people had never attended any of the party’s meetings since its inception and it was mere redundancy for such people to claim to have moved to other parties.

“From November when voter registration starts I urge everyone to register in big numbers so that we can win this election. We want to have peaceful elections. Democracy is for people to decide on how they want to be led but not to destroy the economy,” he added.

At the same time, Kenya African Democratic Union (Kadu) Asili has unveiled its national election board and resolved to approach Mudavadi’s UDF among other parties for a possible coalition ahead of the March 4 General Election.

Party leader Prof Gabriel Katana said his party had been in consultative meetings with UDF to strategise on how to partner to scoop most of the seats in the forthcoming polls.

“A momentous time for Kadu Asili has finally come to be among the best placed parties to win several seats in the forthcoming election,” said Katana.

“I expect transparency to prevail during our party nominations to avoid blame games,” said Katana, who is eyeing the Kilifi County governorship.

The party’s election board Chairman, Rev David Randu, said the board would undertake to identify the best leaders for the different elective positions.

“We shall traverse the entire country to scout for the suitable candidates under Kadu Asili for the forthcoming general election,” said Randu after he was sworn in.

Randu urged those willing to vie for various positions on the party ticket to submit their applications to the board by October 15.