MUDAVADI SPILLS OUT THE BEANS

 

The Jubilee Alliance’s guarded secret finally came out when Mr Musalia Mudavadi said he was lured into joining it by a deal signed with Mr Uhuru Kenyatta purportedly handing him the presidential ticket.
Both Deputy Prime Ministers washed dirty linen in public, conceding they had decided the ticket holder on their own in  boardroom style, even as Uhuru curiously claimed he was coerced to do so by ‘powerful forces’, which he did not specify.

“He came to me and told me that if we are elected, the West will not give Kenya money; that our tea can’t be sold abroad and that Kenyans are not ready for another Kikuyu president as this will cause more bloodshed. Given that I love peace, then I decided to quit and support Musalia,” Uhuru told delegates.

“You as party members and MPs have spoken and I have had your voice; I am ready to face off with my colleague at Kasarani and if wananchi say its him I will not contest any seat but rather work with him in any capacity he so wishes,” he added, referring to the cancelled delegates conference earlier set for last Monday then Tuesday. Mudavadi on the other hand told the country: “Uhuru said that after consultations, he had decided to withdraw his candidature and wished to support me as the coalition candidate for the president.”

Top leadership
Mudavadi said with the present uncertainty over the coalition, he felt compelled to tell Kenyans the truth concerning the deal that led to the signing of the pact between TNA, URP and UDF.  “The public has been subjected to a cocktail of speculations, rumours and half truths about the circumstances under which UDF party entered a coalition with URP and TNA,” he said.
So at the end of the day the fate of Mudavadi in the alliance appeared in doubt as he insisted he would remain but also held onto his previous arguments that the stalemate would be resolved by way of consensus among Jubilee’s top leadership.
His precarious position appeared to be compounded by the fact that Uhuru and his The National Alliance MPs and party officials, were still adamant that the winner of the ticket would be decided through a delegates system, not individual trade-offs.
With Mudavadi not willing to take part in nominations by delegates, while Uhuru, who was the guaranteed the ticket under contention in his first deal with Eldoret North MP William Ruto, vowing he would not take part on consensus, there might be little option left for Mudavadi other than to play along or jump ship.
This was evident because of the strong position Uhuru’s allies took, to the extent of even dismissing Mudavadi as one out to be given the ticket on a silver platter.
It did not help matters that Mudavadi and his United Democratic Forum insisted the agreement signed at Uhuru’s home in the presence of a team of lawyers was binding even after TNA parliamentary group rescinded it on the basis that they were not consulted and was undemocratic in nature. It was another day full of drama as Mudavadi convened a press conference aired live on television, and attended by high-ranking UDF politicians and partners Kanu with whom he signed a separate deal before moving over to Jubilee.
Mudavadi detailed how Uhuru went to his house on December 4 and pleaded with him to join the Jubilee Alliance in the presence of other Jubilee leaders Mr Chirau Ali Mwakwere (Matuga), Najib Balala (Mvita) and Ruto. Mudavadi said they first signed a draft agreement at the meeting in his house before moving to Uhuru’s residence for another meeting.
According to him, it was during the second gathering that a legally binding document again endorsing his candidature was signed.
The signatories were Uhuru and Mudavadi with two lawyers representing them and Ruto also appending his signature as witness.

During a meeting with TNA delegates at Multi-Media University, Nairobi, Uhuru agreed he had indeed signed the document endorsing Mudavadi as the presidential candidate for the Jubilee Alliance.

But he lamented some powerful forces he did not name had coerced him into entering the deal against his conscience. The Gatundu South MP claimed that he was warned his presidency would face many challenges, among them economic sanctions against the country.
Other threats allegedly mentioned, forcing him to step aside, included an aid freeze by Kenya’s international partners and talk that Kenyans were not ready to vote for another Kikuyu president.
Uhuru told the delegates that he met TNA MPs at Panafric Hotel on Monday night and briefed them on his decision to leave the ticket to Mudavadi.
“The MPs rejected the deal and said only delegates will decide who becomes the flag bearer and that is now what is going to happen,” said Uhuru.

@Standarddigital

IS RUTO THE KINGMAKER??

Eldoret North MP William Ruto is emerging as the king maker in the race for the Jubilee coalition presidential nomination expected next week.

Delegates allied to Mr Ruto are being wooed by Mr Uhuru Kenyatta (TNA) and Mr Musalia Mudavadi’s (UDF) supporters to swing the vote in their favour.

Mr Ruto heads URP and will be the running mate of the ultimate winner of the Jubilee ticket. Read (URP denies split in Jubilee alliance)

“There has been no official announcement on nomination from us. Talks about Tuesday are media speculations,” Mr Ruto said on Thursday.

Mr Ruto, Mr Mudavadi and Mr Kenyatta were scheduled to discuss a report on nomination rules Thursday night amid reports that some URP MPs were campaigning for Mr Mudavadi.

But Belgut MP Charles Keter dismissed the claims, saying the party would work with its allies to support the best candidate for the March 4 elections.

“We are working together with our brothers from TNA and UDF. We are one team,” said Mr Keter.

North Horr MP Chachu Ganya said URP did not have a preferred candidate between the two rivals.

“We have not agreed on who between Mr Kenyatta and Mr Mudavadi should be supported. What we know is that as a party we will rally behind the eventual winner,” Mr Ganya said.

Meanwhile, the three leaders will hold joint rallies in Rift Valley, Western and Central provinces on Saturday.

On Friday, they will be in Narok, Saturday in Malava and on Sunday, Murang’a.

Assistant minister Kareke Mbiuki, who supports Mr Kenyatta, welcomed competition for the presidential ticket.

“We are not worried about the machinations aimed at arm-twisting our leader. What we know is that Mr Kenyatta is prepared to battle for the ticket in a democratic exercise and we know victory will be ours,” Mr Mbiuki said.

He said the party would push for competitive election of the Jubilee flagbearer in the elections.

“We are not in support of this idea of consensus. We have agreed to play within the Jubilee coalition but we will not allow anything other than a properly organised election. We will not accept boardroom deals,” said Mr Mbiuki.

This was echoed by TNA secretary-general Onyango Oloo, who said supporters would pick the coalition’s candidate.

“As a party we can assure you that TNA is ready to participate and uphold the results of these nominations whichever way it goes as long as it does not substitute the power of the people to participate in electing the flagbearer,” he said.

Mr Mudavadi’s supporters are pushing for the presidential candidate to be picked through consensus to avoid acrimony over the results.

Mr Ndiritu Muriithi (Industry Assistant minister), who is representing UDF in the joint technical committee drafting nomination rules, said this would also save coalition money.

“There are four methods available to us. We can do it through consensus, through delegates from the parties involved, we can have all members of the concerned parties vote to pick the candidate or we can do it through universal suffrage. In terms of cost, consensus would be the most attractive method but all these options are being considered,” Mr Murithi said.

The rules once adopted by the coalition will guide the joint nomination board comprising of Justice (Rtd) Aaron Ringera and Jasper Mbiuki (TNA), Mr Kipchumba Murkomen and David Chirchir (URP) and Mr Mureithi and Abdulkadir Mohammed (UDF) on how to pick the flagbearer.     

Meanwhile, Narc of presidential aspirant Charity Ngilu has not signed a cooperation agreement with the Jubilee coalition, according to the party’s secretary general Fidelis Nguli.

“Given that we are going to sign an agreement as equal partners we expect our presidential aspirant, Mrs Ngilu might participate in the presidential nominations,” he said.

At the same time, Mr Raila Odinga and Mr Kalonzo Musyoka of the Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (Cord) said they will announce their campaign lineup next Saturday at a rally in Nairobi.

##nation newspaper