By MWANIKI MUNUHE
NAIROBI; KENYA: Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka’s party has approved a plan to work with ODM’s Raila Odinga in a deal that will see the VP end his run for the presidency. This follows a push for party approval by key allies facing some opposition from some members.
The surprise move was said to end ongoing talks with the United Democratic Forum. Talks to unite the parties behind Raila and Kalonzo have resulted in a draft coalition agreement between the Vice President’s Wiper Democratic Movement (WDM) and the Prime Minister’s Orange Democratic Movement (ODM). Raila and Kalonzo are expected to sign the deal on Monday before depositing it with the Registrar of Political Parties by the December 4 deadline a day later.
While details on what was agreed are still closely guarded, it is understood that Raila will be the sole presidential candidate with Kalonzo as his running mate. Sources told The Standard on Saturday that talks between Kalonzo and Deputy Prime Minister Musalia Mudavadi were now effectively over because of the development.
On Friday, the National Executive Council of the WDM endorsed the deal, which is understood to include 50:50 sharing of positions in the coalition. This was despite strong opposition to the surprise pact within the party ranks.
The VP, who was expected in the country last night from a tour abroad, is scheduled to meet party MPs today at 6pm at his new official residence to discuss the proposed agreement. It is understood many WDM MPs are opposed to the VP running on a joint ticket with the PM, citing the two leaders’ personal differences. At yesterday’s meeting, they argued that if the coalition won the elections, it would be bogged down by a power struggle like the one witnessed in Malawi.
Yesterday, WDM chairman and Defence Assistant Minister David Musila took party members through details of the agreement during the NEC meeting at WDM headquarters in Nairobi. Kangundo MP Johnstone Muthama helped him to persuade the members to endorse the deal with ODM. Musila, Muthama and WDM Secretary General Mutula Kilonzo were among the negotiators. Mutula, however, was not present at the NEC meeting yesterday. “These three guys don’t appear to want anything to do with Mudavadi,” an MP present at the meeting grumbled.
Nominated MP Mohammed Affey, Itwiku Mbai (Masinga) and Daniel Muoki (Mwala) were the only other MPs who backed the deal.
MPs Charles Kilonzo (Yatta), Charles Nyamai (Kitui West), Gideon Ndambuki (Kaiti), Phillip Kaloki (Kibwezi) and Peter Kiilu (Makueni) were among those said to have expressed reservations with the deal. However, they were in the minority since the NEC constitutes other members apart from lawmakers “and these guys clearly rubberstamp what they have been told,” according to another MP.
“Those two cannot run a Government together because of their personal differences,” Kilonzo said yesterday, although he declined to discuss details of the meeting.
Another MP who sought anonymity added: “They have been lured into Raila’s trap like one does to a hen with some grains. I am reluctant about an alliance seen as involving two communities against another.”
ODM Chief Whip Jakoyo Midiwo sought to downplay suggestions that only a few individuals in the Wiper party were pushing for the deal. “We are negotiating with the party,” Midiwo told The Standard on Saturday. “We don’t care what other people, as individuals, feel (about the deal).” The Gem MP said Wiper party’s endorsement of the agreement was the right thing to do.
“A Raila-Kalonzo ticket is a winning ticket. I would like to encourage other people talking to us like Ford-Kenya to do so by Tuesday because that is when the next president will be determined,” he added.
Earlier, allies of the two leaders had met at the Jogoo House offices of Education minister Mutula Kilonzo on Thursday to thrash out an arrangement for an alliance.
Contacted for comment, Mutula confirmed a deal has been sealed and awaits the signatures of the two principals. The minister is Wiper’s Secretary General and headed Kalonzo’s legal team in the negotiations. Mutula described the alliance as “the coalition the people of Kenya were waiting for”.
“There is no doubt that our agreement with ODM will be at the Registrar of Political Parties by Tuesday,“ he said. “Negotiations are complete and we are only waiting for the two principals to sign... perhaps by Monday.”
The development comes amid on-going negotiations between Wiper and the United Democratic Forum led by Deputy Prime Minister Musalia Mudavadi.
UDF appears to have been caught off guard by the development: By close of business Thursday, senior party officials were unaware of the progress in the talks between Wiper and ODM. Ndaragwa MP Jeremiah Kioni, a key member of UDF, said his party was not looking for a deal that included ODM.
He added those in Wiper making the case for such a deal were only trying to get back at Deputy PM Uhuru Kenyatta’s The National Alliance.
“Our negotiations were on the understanding that Wiper is not negotiating with ODM,” said Kioni. “We are waiting to hear from the VP himself because he maintains Wiper is not part of any negotiations with ODM. If it becomes apparent that Wiper as a party is negotiating with ODM, then that will be the end of our discussion with them. It is the axis of Mutula, Musila and Muthama who have defied the VP and are talking to ODM.”
The ODM-Wiper deal effectively means UDF has only three days left to look for new partners if it hopes to go into the March 4, 2013 General Election in a coalition.
We have established UDF is in discussions with the Kenya National Congress led by Gatanga MP Peter Kenneth. Kioni confirmed this saying: “Yes, we are talking to KNC and others.”
Wiper’s dash into ODM’s arms comes only weeks after Kalonzo fell out with URP and TNA leaders William Ruto and Uhuru Kenyatta. He was unhappy at his treatment as a junior partner following Ruto’s entry into the so-called G7 alliance despite Kalonzo’s seniority as VP and as part of an older generation. This treatment, he felt, was driven by an obsession with big-tribe politics.
“When you go to the negotiating table (with TNA and URP) you are asked what you are putting on the table, and what you are putting on the table is supposed to be your tribe,” he complained. The VP’s allies say the arrangement with ODM is a better deal. “At least in ODM, the Vice President will be celebrated as a leader who contributed to national leadership,” says Mutula. “We are not negotiating with ODM for positions only. Our negotiations are broad based, for the common good of the country.”
Justice Minister Eugene Wamalwa also bolted out of the alliance with Uhuru and Ruto when it was argued he would not bring enough votes on board to warrant a slot as Deputy President.
He was reportedly offered support to be Speaker of either the National Assembly or the Senate. Although he would be the third most powerful office-holder as Speaker of the National Assembly, Wamalwa rejected these offers.
If Uhuru and Ruto fail to talk him into changing his mind, their alliance will be left without a key player from Western Kenya.
UDF’s Musalia Mudavadi was engaged in talks remotely, but the TNA camp kept him at arms length to keep a pledge to work with Wamalwa. A last- minute meeting in Karen this week looked at the possibility of Uhuru backing Mudavadi should he be blocked from running for the presidency.
The TNA leader and his URP ally both face trial at the International Criminal Court next year.
Uhuru and Ruto were expected to announce their deal tomorrow at Afraha Stadium in Nakuru. However, the TNA leader says there will be no announcement. “We are working together,” he said. “There is nothing spectacular in us holding joint rallies.”
At the centre of the URP and TNA deal is a 50-50 power sharing formula that, according to the Minister for Education, motivated Kalonzo to leave the arrangement.
“Negotiating with partners who are talking about 50-50 power sharing was nonsense to us,” Mutula said. “What about the rest of us? What about the rest of the country?” Sources within TNA, however, say talks with Kalonzo failed because he was adamant about the presidency and would not step down in favour of anybody else.
“At one time, the VP even told the negotiating team that he was willing to give out an 80 per cent share of Government to Uhuru and Ruto on condition that they support him for the presidency,” said a source involved in the talks.
