Nominated MP Godfrey Osotsi on Thursday urged ANC leader Musalia Mudavadi to ignore calls to have the party conduct separate BBI campaigns.
Osotsi said the suggestion by former Medical Services Cabinet Minister Amukowa Anangwe that ANC should campaign on its own for the plebiscite will isolate the party from mainstream national politics and the 2022 succession matrix.
"It's not strategic for ANC to run parallel BBI campaigns to a well-oiled national one run by President Uhuru Kenyatta and ODM leader Raila Odinga.
"Mudavadi has the stature having been a vice president and deputy prime minister and should campaign alongside Uhuru and Raila rather than reducing himself to a village champion," he told the Star on the phone.
On Tuesday, Anangwe said political parties will campaign for the referendum separately and not under Raila. He said ANC will campaign for the document in Western while popularising Mudavadi's presidential bid.
"We're going to campaign as ANC alongside other like-minded outfits, but we're not going to be surrogates of anyone by joining teams we have not participated in their formation. Let them form their own teams and we shall form ours," the former Butere MP said.
But Osotsi said those pushing for parallel campaigns are selfish and only out to use such campaigns to further their plans for the seats they want to contest in 2022. They should be ignored, he said.
He said the BBI process will shape the 2022 race and plans for separate support teams will destabilise Mudavadi's course by alienating him from key political personalities.
"I want to sincerely advise Mudavadi to ignore such misguided advice from people who just want to make money from him and join other national leaders in BBI Yes campaigns."
President Kenyatta and his handshake partner Raila were set to launch the signature collection drive on Thursday in preparation for the BBI referendum but postponed the exercise to a yet-to-be-named date. The two originators of the BBI were also expected to launch a referendum secretariat.
The postponement came on a day President Kenyatta met with Deputy President William Ruto at State House, Nairobi, after the DP, a critic of the BBI process, indicated he would not be leading No campaigns against the document.
Edited by F'Orieny
