Uhuru Kenyatta exit, onslaught from Ruto party spells doom for Azimio

News that Retired President Uhuru Kenyatta could be stepping down from the leadership of Azimio la Umoja One Kenya coalition has awoken the interest of a number of leaders who are hopeful of taking his place.

Uhuru is considering stepping down from the role he has held since the coalition was formed earlier in the year due to obligations from the law and a need to focus on other tasks. Jubilee Vice chairperson David Murathe told The Standard last week Uhuru was intent on letting his partner in the coalition ODM leader, Raila Odinga, fully take over the leadership.

"You cannot have two drivers of the same vehicle," Murathe said on Tuesday, "we are considering him stepping down as the chair of Azimio."

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However, there is no communication from Uhuru's office or Azimio. Senior coalition leaders, when sought for comment yesterday, said they were unaware and referred us to Suna East MP Junet Mohammed who was unavailable. Junet is the Secretary General of the coalition party.

Council members

Uhuru was picked to head the Azimio Coalition Council when the party was formed. Azimio presidential flagbearer and ODM leader Raila was named as the Party leader and Council member. Those also listed as Council members include Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka, Narc-Kenya leader Martha Karua, Kanu chairman Gideon Moi, NARC leader Charity Ngilu, DAP-K party leader Wafula Wamunyinyi and Nominated MP Sabina Chege.

Others are former Mombasa Governor Ali Hassan Joho, former Taveta MP Naomi Shaban, Abdi Noor Omar Farah, as well as Junet who was also appointed as the Secretary General of the Executive Council of the coalition party. The coalition brought together some 26 political parties and was led by two organs - the Coalition Council and the National Coalition Executive Council.

The council is responsible for the governance of the coalition party and the policy direction it takes. Should Uhuru exit, Raila is expected to fill the slot. It is a role that Raila has played in the past when he chaired Azimio meetings in the absence of Uhuru. Raila chaired the second Azimio la Umoja Council meeting at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) in June in the absence of Uhuru who convened the session.

But Uhuru leading Azimio was always set up as a temporary move since legally he would still have been required to retire from active politics. After his party lost the 2002 election, former president Daniel Moi left the presidency but stayed on as the chairman of his party Kanu until September 2003 when he ceded the authority to Uhuru. Uhuru will be leaving the coalition at a time it is adapting to its role as the Opposition party and putting its house in order to oversight the Government of President William Ruto.

Azimio is also going through a reckoning of the August 2022 election. The weeks after the August election have been a period for introspection for the coalition, but the blame game over the reason for their loss is slowly driving a wedge among members and splitting it apart. Raila's Chief Agent in the August presidential election, Saitabao Ole Kanchory, in an interview carried by NTV last week, said he believed Raila lost because of among other reasons putting too much faith in some senior members of the coalition.

But aside from the coalition's loss in August, many of the council members suffered individual losses at the polls. Aside from Junet who defended his Suna East parliamentary seat and Chege who was nominated to the National Assembly by Jubilee Party, other members were swept away.

By-election loss

DAP leader Wamunyinyi after losing his bid to defend his Kanduyi Constituency seat in August, went on to lose when he ran in the Bungoma Senator race by-election on December 8. Shaban was one of the first to concede defeat after it became apparent that her two-decade streak as Taveta MP was coming to an end.

The four-term MP's hope for a seat at the regional legislative assembly in Arusha was unsuccessful. Her name was among 96 nominees who had hoped for an opportunity to serve at the East African Legislative Assembly. Kanu had also put the name of leader Gideon Moi in contention, but withdrew it and the former Baringo senator supported another candidate instead.

Some party members have suggested the names of leaders they hope will take over from Uhuru, including a member of Kanu who is proposing Gideon. The past week has been a busy one for Kanu that saw the long-serving Secretary General Nick Salat suspended for alleged misconduct and violation of the party constitution. Salat has promised to fight back.

Raila too is rallying the opposition banners, but what promised to be a united front of all the 26 parties that made up Azimio la Umoja is quickly becoming an ODM Party affair.

The Azimio leader's call for public meetings to protest against the planned removal of commissioners of the electoral commission created confusion in the coalition with some parties rejecting the calls.

They included Kanu, Jubilee, and KUP. The leaders present at Kamukunji were Narc Kenya leader Martha Karua, Wiper's Kalonzo Musyoka, former Kakamega Governor Wycliffe Oparanya, and DAP-K patron Eugene Wamalwa. Uhuru's exit from the party is likely to hasten the departure of parties such as Jubilee, with some members showing a reluctance to Azimio's larger plans such as picketing in support of the poll commissioners.

Hunting mission

Ruto's United Democratic Alliance is on a hunting mission led by Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, who has promised that leaders from Mt Kenya region who are in Jubilee and Azimio coalition will be in UDA by the end of the year. Among those on the radar is Chege. A former MP from Mt Kenya who did not want to be named because of the position he is taking said he expected the collapse of Azimio to come fast once Uhuru leaves. The parties that had joined the coalition because of him will all leave, he reckoned.

"For those who joined Azimio because of the leadership of Uhuru, what will they see when he's no longer part of it? They will leave," he said.

Another Jubilee member also spoke of the uncertainty within the party, compounded by reports that Uhuru would be stepping down from his role as council chair.

"Most of us are in the dark with regard to whether our party leader Uhuru Kenyatta is resigning or not. We are reading about it in the papers and not from the right channels, as a result there is a lot of confusion in Jubilee," said former Gatanga MP Nduati Ngugi.

But the party's Director of Elections, Kanini Kega has a different view.

"When the right time comes , our party leader will definitely resign to allow new leadership but he will not stay away from the party as he will guide and advise us," he said.

Former Mathioya MP Peter Kimari also alluded to the lack of proper communication from the party on Uhuru's next step.

"We have not officially heard about Retired President Uhuru Kenyatta's resignation from our party but we wish him well if he will step aside to concentrate on regional peace keeping," he said.

Additional Reporting by Ndungu Gachane