Former Deputy Prime Minister Musalia Mudavadi has intensified his bid to consolidate support for his Amani Coalition Congress (ANC).
The ANC party leader yesterday reached out to Funyula MP Paul Otuoma (ODM) and former Westlands MP Fred Gumo as part of the ongoing deliberations.
Later in the day, Mudavadi left the country for a two-week tour of the United Kingdom to promote the party. He is scheduled to meet Liberal Democrat politician Lord David Martin Scott Steel to discuss devolution and the international Liberal Democrats’ movement among others matters.
It is understood that Mudavadi, who has made one stab at the presidency, wants to consolidate the Western region voting bloc so as to raise the stakes of the region ahead of the 2017 General Election.
The Luhya community is the second largest in terms of population, but the region has always failed to agree on any single voting trend, making it a fishing ground for major political coalitions.
And to change this, the ANC leader has embarked on a herculean task to woo the region to speak with one voice and yesterday’s breakfast meeting at Fairview Hotel in Nairobi was part of the efforts.
“We were just meeting with my brothers Gumo and Otuoma to have coffee and compare notes. It’s good for leaders to always meet to share ideas and you will be seeing more of this going forward,” Mudavadi told The Standard on phone after the meeting.
ONE BASKET
The ANC team believes if they succeed in creating a formidable team ahead of the next polls, they will be in a better position to negotiate as a region with either the Coalition for Reforms and Democracy or Jubilee Coalition. “Once we put our people in one basket, then we will be able to negotiate a good deal with whoever; be it Raila Odinga or President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Jubilee,” a party source privy to ongoing deliberations said.
Yesterday, Budalang’i MP Ababu Namwamba (ODM) and his Lugari counterpart Ayub Savula (UDF) said it was okay to engage in such a talk, encouraging other leaders to hold discussions. “Actually, this is the season for taking coffee and it’s a good thing when people come together to hold discussions; it would encourage leaders to do that all the time,” Namwamba said.
Savula said for now, most MPs from Western region are committed to the ideals of their parties but when the right time comes, they will make a move in ‘the right direction’.
“Mudavadi is free to move all over Western and seek support for his party but for some of us as elected MPs, we can’t join him in propagating the agenda of a rival party till the right time,” he said.
Last week, Mudavadi met several leaders from Western who were in Nairobi to witness the swearing in of Eugene Wamalwa.
The Standard Group Plc is a
multi-media organization with investments in media platforms spanning newspaper
print operations, television, radio broadcasting, digital and online services. The
Standard Group is recognized as a leading multi-media house in Kenya with a key
influence in matters of national and international interest.
join