MPs allied to Ruto, Musalia meet ahead of EALA vote

By VITALIS KIMUTAI

Deputy Prime Minister Musalia Mudavadi and Eldoret North MP William Ruto led a group of MPs allied to endorsing a list of candidates for the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) ahead of the vote which will be conducted in parliament Thursday.

Mudavadi and Ruto marshalled 40 MPs allied to the United Democratic Forum (UDF) and United Republican Party (URP) into a meeting at Biblica centre along Dennis Pritt road in Nairobi  on Wednesday night where a deal was hammered out.

Assistant Minister George Khaniri and Belgut MP Charles Keter lobbied their colleagues regarded as rebel ODM MPs to the meeting which lasted four hours.

"We met here to deliberate on the EALA list which will be subjected to a vote in parliament Thursday morning," Dujis MP Aden Duale told the media in a brief statement after the meeting.

Duale said the the MPs had "agreed on a working voting pattern in parliament" that would see their favoured candidates sail through.

Khaniri said that the group of MPs had no problem reaching a compromise on the deal because they had common political interests having fallen out with ODM leadership.

“It was not difficult for us to arrive at a conclusion on how we should vote in parliament as our interests are the same," Khaniri said.

Mudavadi, Ruto and the other MPs did not speak to the press after emerging from the meeting leaving the task to Duale and Khaniri.

Keter later told The Standard that the PNU team had been roped into the deal as they were also working on their list.

"The PNU team is also having a meeting at another venue and we expect to touch base with them later," Keter said.

Though the MPs declined to release the names of their preferred candidates, Standard reliably learnt that Mudavadi and Ruto team agreed on former MP Joseph Kiangoi, Mrs Sarah Godana, nominated councilor Ronald Ngeny, Ambassador (retired) Abubakar Ogle, Mrs Jenniffer Masis and former MP Imannuel Imana as their preferred choice.

The rebel MPs had in the past one week condemned ODM for allegedly failing to consult them before the list of the nominees was released.

But ODM struck back saying they did not deserve to be consulted as they had quit the party and formed new political outfits.

Ngeny and Kiangoi are close allies of Prime Minister Raila Odinga and it is understood that the URP and UDF team picked them as they wanted to endear themselves to voters in the South Nyanza and South Rift Valley regions respectively.