• There have been talks of a possible pre-2022 alliance with opposition leader Raila Odinga and the Jubilee faction allied to President Uhuru Kenyatta.
• Kanu official gave impression much ground has been covered by the proponents of the Raila, Uhuru and Gideon alliance and that 'it is a matter of when and not if'.
Image: FILE
Kanu has kicked off a quiet campaign to revitalise its grassroots support, even as a top official remained upbeat a pre-2022 political alliance would soon crystallise.
In an interview with the Star on Tuesday, secretary general Nick Salat said the party is identifying key regional pillars that will strengthen its countrywide presence.
Salat said the “coronavirus pandemic cannot stop an agenda whose time has come” as political leaders remain in alliance building talks ahead of the 2022 General Election.
“Despite the coronavirus setback, conversations are ongoing through telephones among people with mutual interests,” Salat, a key confidant of party chairman Gideon Moi, said.
There have been talks of a possible pre-2022 alliance with opposition leader Raila Odinga and the Jubilee faction allied to President Uhuru Kenyatta.
However, analysts have warned that such an alliance could face a huge challenge at the ballot if Deputy President William Ruto teams up with ANC leader Musalia Mudavadi and Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka.
Salat gave the impression that much ground has been covered by the proponents of the Raila, Uhuru and Gideon alliance and that “it is a matter of when and not if".
Salat said while the Covid-19 pandemic has disrupted physical meetings, political leaders still engaging in virtual conversations “to see to it that something can be formalised in the near future.”
The Building Bridges Initiative emerged as the strategic platform to market the union but the coronavirus pandemic appears to have slowed down the momentum.
Countrywide rallies that had psyched up BBI supporters were snuffed by the government's ban on public gatherings to curb the spread of the virus.
However, Salat insisted that political stalwarts are in constant communication to pursue the same agenda initiated by the BBI campaigns.
“What was being discussed in BBI rallies is being addressed by the people who embraced BBI and are looking at levelling the playground,” he said.
The former Bomet MP said Kanu has already kicked off a process to bring on board influential political heavyweights to boost its foothold at the grassroots.
The Independence party is said to have started tracing former President Daniel Moi's loyalists across the country and to woo back heavyweights to reposition the party.
“Some regions are looking at filling vacant positions but we intend to have grassroots soldiers that count for the party,” he said.
This is even as Kanu backers from President Kenyatta's Mt Kenya region picked a caucus to spearhead the party's grassroots revitalisation campaigns in the area.
The caucus, which has representation from all the nine counties in the vote-rich region, has John Mukirai from Kiambu county as their chairman.
Peter Ndatho from Tharaka Nithi is the vice chairman, while Dickson Mukono from Embu is the secretary-general.
The party is expected to name more caucuses across the country in the coming weeks amid reports it had received millions from an NGO to finance its revitalisation programmes.
Edited by E.Kibii