ICC cases a headache to TNA, URP teams

By Stephen Makabila and Mwaniki Munuhe

NAIROBI, KENYA: Strategists working on the proposed alliance between TNA and URP are weighing the risks of having Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto on a joint ticket. While they see it as a winning team, they are concerned it may be a hard sell that ends up breaking the team.

Both Uhuru and Ruto face trials for crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court just a month after the General Election scheduled for March 4.

The Deputy Prime Minister and the Eldoret North MP technical team fine-tuning the pre-election coalition agreement is said to be apprehensive that the ticket will draw too much fire from rivals.

“The technical team members feel it may not be wise for both Uhuru and Ruto… to have the top two positions in the coalition,” a member of the team told The Standard On Saturday in confidence. Some have suggested that Justice Minister Eugene Wamalwa be Uhuru’s running mate, while Ruto takes up the Leader of Majority in Parliament. Some argue that this will avoid a scenario where both the President and his deputy are at The Hague or barred from travelling for not co-operating with the ICC.

Others say Ruto has the political profile needed to command the respect of the House as Majority Leader.

“While Wamalwa is comfortable becoming the Majority Party Leader, the feeling is that he lacks the commanding ability Ruto has for such a position,” said a member of the technical team.

Uhuru is reportedly of the view that, ultimately, Ruto has a free hand to decide which position he prefers because he is regarded a senior partner in the alliance.

It also emerged the group has opted to forge ahead without Vice-President, Kalonzo Musyoka, and Deputy Prime Minister, Musalia Mudavadi. The Uhuru-Ruto axis believes the two would take nothing other than a shot at the presidency. This was reportedly the feeling of those who accompanied Uhuru to Bujumbura, Burundi, for what sources indicated was also a bonding tour.

“One of the?unwritten agreements?reached in Bujumbura was that members of the team stop negotiating with non-members, among them Kalonzo and Mudavadi,” said a source.

Yesterday, Kalonzo said talks between him and Mudavadi were on course. The two are believed to be working on a parallel alliance to counter the Uhuru-Ruto force. The VP dismissed suggestions he would consider the position of Majority Party Leader, which the Uhuru-Ruto group is said to have contemplated offering him.

“I am a man of my own and wish to assure my supporters that I am prepared to go all the way,” he said.

But ceasing discussions with the two apparently would not ease the challenge to balance competing interests for the Uhuru-Ruto group.

“What happens if they win, and then?both of them leave the country for ICC trial? There will be a power vacuum,” said a source. But some argue it is the perceived political clout that is crucial in the negotiations.

“Ruto is sure of delivering seven counties while Wamalwa can deliver two. At the end of the day, this is a game of numbers and it depends on what you put on the table,” an Uhuru confidant told The Standard On Saturday.

The Wamalwa team is said to be preparing ground for his possible withdrawal from the presidential race and are working on a strategy for a soft landing.

“If he has to be the Majority Party Leader, we want him to contest a constituency in Nairobi, most likely Westlands,” said Juma Mukhwana, his close political associate.

Mukhwana is also a member of the alliance’s technical team. “We do not want him to face the humiliation of going back to Saboti constituency.”

In Western Province, Wamalwa has the challenge of containing ODM, Mudavadi, and Ford-Kenya headed by Trade Minister Moses Wetangula.

The final deal between Uhuru and Ruto is set to be signed on December 4, at a rally in Nairobi’s Uhuru Park, but the alliance leaders are set to hold a series of rallies to market the team.

Ruto has already embarked on marketing his alliance with Uhuru in Rift Valley Province. MPs allied to URP are leading the crusade to explain to his supporters why the political marriage between the two has to work.

In Nairobi Uhuru, Ruto, Wamalwa, Ngilu, Ali Chirau Mwakwere, Najib Balala, Aden Duale, and Kiema Kilonzo attended a breakfast meeting to firm up the alliance.

But Uhuru and Ruto are said to have considered Wamalwa and Ngilu on a joint ticket should they be locked out of the race. It is, however, not clear who between Wamalwa and Ngilu would be the presidential candidate.

Strategists working on an alliance between TNA and URP are weighing the risks of having Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto on a joint ticket.

Both face trials for crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court just a month after the General Election scheduled for March 4.

The Deputy Prime Minister and the Eldoret North MP are reportedly about to wrap up a deal in which Uhuru runs as president, with Ruto his running mate. But the technical team fine-tuning the pre-election coalition agreement is said to be apprehensive that the ticket will draw too much fire from rivals.

“The technical team members feel it may not be wise for both Uhuru and Ruto… to have the top two positions in the coalition,” a member of the team told The Standard On Saturday in confidence. Some have suggested that Justice Minister Eugene Wamalwa be Uhuru’s running mate, while Ruto takes up the Leader of Majority in Parliament. Some argue that this will avoid a scenario where both the President and his deputy are at The Hague or barred from travelling for not co-operating with the ICC.

The final deal between Uhuru and Ruto is set to be signed on December 4, at a rally in Nairobi’s Uhuru Park.