Nyenze remains defiant: Wiper to walk out of NASA if Kalonzo is not candidate

Parliamentary Minority leader Francis Nyenze (left), Wiper Leader Kalonzo Musyoka (center) and Machakos Deputy Governor Bernard Kiala during a Wiper NEC meeting at Wiper Headquarters on 20/9/16 Photo:BEVERLYNE MUSILI/Standard]

National Assembly Minority Leader Francis Nyenze says Ukambani will only back the Opposition alliance if Wiper Party Leader Kalonzo Musyoka’s is its presidential flag bearer.

Nyenze, who only last week came under attack, including from some Wiper members, over his remarks that the party will pull out of the National Super Alliance (NASA) unless Kalonzo was named the flag bearer, maintained the position.

“This is no longer a request. We are not begging, it is a demand we are making. It is either Kalonzo or there will be no NASA, at least not including the Wiper party,” he said.

A seemingly emboldened Nyenze maintained that Wiper would walk away if Kalonzo is not named the coalition’s flag bearer.

Party position

The legislator, a close ally of the former Vice President, claimed his position had been discussed within some quarters at the Wiper party.

“I am not mad. When you hear me saying this, do not think it is the position of Nyenze, or even that of Kalonzo. This is what the Kamba nation has decided,” an emphatic Nyenze said.

Wiper leader

He said any move to walk away from the 2013 agreement would leave Wiper and its leader with no option but to walk away from joint union.

“We cannot keep trusting people who are running away from the agreement they made, just so that we can appear to be gentlemen,” he said. He insisted that the agreement was not pegged on the 2013 poll results.

“The agreement was as simple as Wiper supporting Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) leader Raila (Odinga) in 2013, and a similar gesture being made in 2017 to Kalonzo, irrespective of the outcome of the last polls,” he said.

Efforts to get comments from Kalonzo were futile as he did not answer our calls or respond to our text messages.