Three NASA principals plot to ditch Raila Odinga

Three opposition principals are exploring the possibility of resuscitating the moribund National Super Alliance (NASA) or dissolve it all together ahead of the next General Election.

The surprise decision has been triggered by plans for a 2022 re-election coalition between the Raila Odinga-led ODM and the ruling Jubilee Party under President Uhuru Kenyatta and mistrust between the NASA principals.

Yesterday, Amani National Congress (ANC) leader Musalia Mudavadi, Wiper’s Kalonzo Musyoka and Moses Wetang'ula of Ford-Kenya held a meeting to discuss the future of NASA, which they have repeatedly declared dead.

The three NASA principals said they would issue “a comprehensive statement” on the status of the coalition that sponsored a Raila-Kalonzo ticket in the 2017 General Election.

The meeting has raised speculation over the leaders’ game plan as well the future of the One Kenya Alliance that also brings on board Kanu leader and Baringo Senator Gideon Moi. “Today the NASA principals Moses Wetang’ula of Ford-Kenya, Musalia Mudavadi of Amani National Congress and Kalonzo Musyoka of Wiper Democratic Movement - Kenya met and discussed a wide range of issues concerning the current political landscape in the country,” read a joint statement they issued.

“We will issue a comprehensive statement of NASA in due course,” added the statement.

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According to the NASA agreement, it stands dissolved if three affiliate parties leave. This means should Wiper, Ford-Kenya and ANC abandon the coalition, it will stand dissolved.

In a phone interview with The Standard, Mudavadi said their statement would provide answers about the sustainability of the coalition that has been rocked with mistrust over the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).

“The fate of NASA is to be known soon. We met as NASA principals, not as One Kenya Alliance,” said the ANC leader, adding: “We have not talked about fielding a presidential candidate under the coalition, we have not talked about candidacy for 2022, but the status of NASA and whether it will be sustainable or survive.”

Mudavadi, when asked if they invited Raila to the meeting, said: “He might say he was not aware of the meeting or not been invited.”

He accused some principals of hijacking the NASA dream. “They pronounced NASA dead but still wear its carcass whenever it suits them. The reality now is that NASA partner parties are either working independently or warming up for other formations.”

Earlier, handlers of the leaders sent out alerts that they were meeting as One Kenya Alliance.

According to the alert, One Kenya Alliance principals were to be briefed by an eight-member committee formed to craft a coalition agreement on the progress made in formalising the coalition.

But when they sent out a statement, Mudavadi, Kalonzo and Wetang’ula insisted that they had met as NASA principals.

The three leaders have ganged up against Raila for allegedly reneging on an agreement to back one of them for the top seat come 2022. But the ODM leader has maintained that the agreement was null and void since he did not become President.  

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