Wiper demands a bigger say in NASA as Kalonzo Musyoka eyes top seat

NASA principal Kalonzo Musyoka. (Photo: Edward Kiplimo/Standard)

The demands by Wiper Party to have a bigger say in NASA’s post-election activities has raised fresh questions about the state of the Opposition coalition.

On Thursday, elected Wiper leaders held a day-long retreat at a resort in Athi River in Machakos County where the party’s relationship with its NASA affiliates was discussed and “strong observations” made. 

Held before the dust settled on the October 26 presidential poll, the retreat resolved to begin ‘a vigorous exercise’ whose agenda is to position Wiper Party leader Kalonzo Musyoka well for the 2022 race.

Kalonzo is a NASA co-principal alongside ODM’s Raila Odinga, Ford Kenya’s Moses Wetangu’la and Amani National Congress’s Musalia Mudavadi. He was Raila Odinga’s running mate in the NASA presidential ticket of the August 8 election.

Makueni Governor Prof Kivutha Kibwana chaired the meeting and although he was careful not to spill the beans on Wiper’s post-election grievances, the nuances still came out.

“We want to play an active role in NASA going forward because we have a huge stake in a stronger NASA. We are looking at this in both short and long term,” Kibwana told Sunday Standard yesterday.

Key among the issues that dominated the deliberations is the lack of a clear, broad and consultative post-election strategy for NASA. Wiper was concerned that the existing coalition structures which were created for purposes of the 2017 August election were still running the show. The manner in which the National Resistance Movement (NRM) wing was unveiled also came into focus. Kibwana played down the concern but appreciated the need for “new structures.”

“The strategy as unveiled thus far espouses broad perspectives. From my understanding, Wiper’s sentiments reflect the nitty-gritty  of this and how, moving forward, we can get a strong NASA moving and achieving both short and long term goals of this struggle,” Kibwana said.

Simmering discontent

However, a senior politician who attended the meeting  said the party’s position on 2022 — when Kalonzo is expected to be the NASA presidential flagbearer — was made after other ‘serious concerns’ were raised about the manner in which the ODM wing of the Opposition coalition was treating Wiper. The thrust of the concerns was the stillborn attempt to allot parliamentary leadership positions among NASA affiliates before Parliament broke for the repeat election. Before the repeat elections,  the “Minority Leader” position in the 11th Parliament, which had been occupied by Wiper’s Francis Nyenze, was allotted to ODM’s John Mbadi.

To compensate for this, Wiper was given the two minority Whip positions in the Senate and National Assembly to be occupied by Mutula Kilonzo Jnr and Robert Mbui respectively. However, Coast ODM leaders lamented that the National Assembly Minority Whip position was initially occupied by one of their own, Thomas Mwadeghu and vigorously demanded it.

The House broke before these matters could be amicably settled and with Parliament reconvening on Tuesday, Wiper is digging for a fight to save its slots. “They want to grab the key positions in Parliament without involving our side in any consultations which we believe is against the spirit of the coalition arrangement,” the source said. The frictions saw Wiper’s elected leaders miss a NASA event at its Okoa Kenya offices in Lavington on Friday during which ODM leaders, donning “Resist” caps and T-shirts, announced boycott of products of three companies.

Some Wiper leaders have explained  why they did not attend the NASA press conference. “I was in Machakos attending a court case involving one of our members. We also had another party event and it is most likely the reason why you didn’t see most of our leaders there,” Makueni MP Daniel Maanzo explained yesterday.

“We are in it and you can come now and even take a picture. I am donning the resist attire as we speak,”  Maanzo said.

He denied that the Wiper side was disgruntled, maintaining that   the House leadership slots given to his party would be retained in the new list.

“If it’s the issue of Mbui (Robert), the position can’t move. The party leader himself has assured us on this and there is nothing to worry about,” Maanzo added.

Wiper’s elected leaders were also said to be apprehensive of the end-game of the new National Resistance Movement fearing it could blur the memorandum of understanding (MoU) in NASA which identifies Kalonzo as the next automatic presidential flagbearer after Raila.

“We do not want to find ourselves in the position we were in the last season where Kalonzo’s candidature for the top seat was frustrated by ‘a defective MoU’ signed within the former CORD coalition. This time we must get things right,” another Wiper source added.

Other leaders in the meeting were Senators Enoch Wambua (Kitui), Mutula Kilonzo Jnr (Makueni), MPs Gideon Mulyungi (Mwingi Central), Thaddeus Zambia (Kilome), Robert Mbui (Kathiani),Jessica Mbalu (Kibwezi East), Joyce Kamene (Machakos County and Rose Museo (Makueni County) among others.