Will the running mates add value to their camps?

By Oscar Obonyo

With two of the most sought-after presidential running mates, Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka and Eldoret North MP William Ruto, already “booked”, the search for deputy presidential contenders is proving a nightmare for some.

Deputy Prime Minister Musalia Mudavadi and Gichugu MP Martha Karua are among presidential hopefuls yet to name running mates.

In a live television interview on Wednesday, the DPM conceded he was in a dilemma.

Mudavadi is looking for “a hard worker and someone who can win votes for the party”.

According to our sources, though, some of the big names approached do not want to gamble and have instead opted for more “assured” positions as Senator or MP.

So far, Kalonzo and Ruto, are the only confirmed deputy presidential contenders for frontrunners, Prime Minister Raila Odinga and deputy Premier Uhuru Kenyatta.

Before teaming up with Raila and Uhuru, the two were on high demand. The VP was in parallel courtship with Mudavadi and Raila, before settling with the latter, while Ruto was being wooed by Raila, Kalonzo, Mudavadi and Uhuru.

Kalonzo and Ruto, who are themselves presidential material, are among the best any presidential contender can get. Just what added value do these two politicians bring to the Raila and Uhuru campaigns?

According to Dr Paul Otuoma, a member of the Cord National Executive Board, the VP takes to the PM the all-important ingredient in politics – numbers.

Otuoma observes that Kalonzo proved this in the 2007 General Election when he polled a million votes and then switched to ably cushion a desperate Kibaki in Government.

The Local Government minister points out that had Kalonzo teamed up with Raila as in the old ODM-Kenya arrangement, President Kibaki would not have been re-elected, or had he joined ODM after the disputed polls, then Kalonzo would have denied Kibaki legitimacy.

Support base

Similarly within the Jubilee camp, Ruto is viewed as a politician who “brings numbers” to the Uhuru campaign: “Ruto has aggressively networked to build a formidable support base. He has diversified his troops especially among minorities,” says Sports Assistant minister, Kabando wa Kabando.

The Mukurweini legislator added that Ruto is indisputably very instinctive, suave and ambitious and a self-determined spell binding orator. “Uhuru wanted someone he can effectively delegate key national tasks. Uhuru tapped someone who is a super implementer, a deliverer,” says Kabando.

Separately, Otuoma explains that the VP helps to inject into the Cord Alliance the much-needed balance, by complimenting the presidential flag bearer’s qualities. “Where in some quarters people were uncomfortable with the PM, now Kalonzo will be the mollifying factor and vice-versa where Kalonzo was causing discomfort, Raila will even out the situation,” says the Funyula MP.

Indeed, observers within Raila’s camp view the VP’s teaming up with the PM as one with two advantages; it sorts out the problem that existed when Mudavadi was deemed as the running mate, that of a presidency and vice presidency coming from Western. Kalonzo would also provide what Raila was seen to have lost in Musalia’s exit; a sober, potential stabilising force that would appeal to the conservatives who are uncomfortable with Raila.

Well aware of this fact, Kalonzo sought to reassure those with Raila phobia that they had nothing to fear, when Cord officially endorsed the PM as its flag bearer.

Raila phobia

“I know there are many people who fear Raila and are very worried of his presidency. If you have doubts about me, I want you to put your faith in me, instead. Fear not about losing your property, because we shall ensure as a team that justice prevails,” assured Kalonzo at the Uhuru Park rally.

But when it comes to teamwork, pundits believe Uhuru and Ruto, who have been associates for a longer period under Kanu party, have a better working relationship.

“Their generational focus synergises aptly. Ideally, the high table of Uhuru and Ruto indicate corresponding restlessness which easily resonates with the youth,” observes Kabando.

Mr Francis Mwangangi, the co-ordinator of Wiper Ambassadors, a pro-Kalonzo lobby group, equally sees unity of purpose in the Raila-Kalonzo team. The PM, says Mwangangi, is a symbol of reforms and the second-liberation struggle in the country, while Kalonzo is the face of national stability.

The VP, he says, also has a strong appeal among moderates and the pro-establishment politicians and businesses of yester years. “Kenya needs the combined skills of an experienced engineer and a lawyer, a reformist and a diplomat, spiced up with their many years of public service. This is what makes Cord unbeatable,” says Mwangangi.

Separately, Kabando argues that the Uhuru-Ruto pair easily reincarnates sovereign pride: “No other pair can do this more morally than them, both to prove their innocence to the world and to hoist Kenya as an exemplary solution. Uhuru’s harvest of Ruto was inescapable. The die was cast for their rivals.”

There is equally another uniting factor to the Raila-Kalonzo forces. Their pact raises the possibility of the presidency going out of Central Kenya and Rift Valley where it has resided since independence.

Either way, it is certain, Kalonzo and Ruto are not just passengers in the Cord and Jubilee teams, but poll success for either side will greatly depend on their contribution.

The running mate for former Education PS James ole Kiyiapi, is little-known Winnie Kaburu. By nominating a woman to the slot, the Restore and Build Kenya (RBK) presidential aspirant hopes to appeal to the larger women constituency.

A career teacher and former deputy head at the Kenya Private Sector Alliance (Kepsa), Kaburu also helps to shape the image of RBK as a union of technocrats and educationists, as opposed to that of politicians, which is the case in rival parties. Owing to their background, Kiyiapi and Kaburu are bound to click as a team. And they have the widest loop of professional colleagues to appeal to.