- ANC has notified the public that the party is set to make alterations to its constitution
- On July 28, ANC endorsed Mudavadi to be its standard bear in the 2022 presidential contest.
Image: FILE
Amani National Congress is set to make changes to its constitution that will bar party leader Musalia Mudavadi from being anyone’s presidential running mate in 2022.
The changes will make the party leader the automatic presidential candidate. Deputy party leader Ayub Savula said it will be impossible for Mudavadi to be anyone’s running mate, unless he ditches the party.
“Those who were thinking Musalia would endorse them should forget it. They should start thinking about endorsing Musalia instead because the ANC constitution will not allow him to play second fiddle,” he explained.
He added that should Mudavadi want to be someone’s running mate, he will have to seek approval of the party National Governing Council, a process he said will be a tall order.
“Mudavadi will not go to Deputy President William Ruto as a running mate because that will be in contravention of the ANC constitution. It is sealed and completed,” Savula reiterated.
He, however, noted that aspirants from other parties will be free to be Mudavadi’s running mate.
Ruto and Mudavadi can only run on a joint ticket in a situation where the DP is the presidential candidate, with Mudavadi as his number two. The Kenyan Constitution bars Ruto from seeking a third term as deputy president, hence complicating the possibility of the two coming to an arrangement for a joint ticket.
“Anyone thinking Musalia will be his running mate should read our constitution,” Savula reiterated.
ANC has already notified the public that the party is set to make alterations to its constitution, rules and regulations. In an advert, the party said it had notified the Office of the Registrar of Political Parties of the plan to make the changes.
Secretary general Barrack Muluka noted that the National Executive Committee resolved to make the changes.
On July 28, the ANC endorsed Mudavadi as its standard bearer in the 2022 presidential contest. The agreement was sealed by the party National Governing Council at the party headquarters in Nairobi. Mudavadi welcomed it.
“I just want to reassure you, my people, that I'm in the field, we shall fight with my competitors up to the year 2022. I will be there, God willing. I'll be in the field in 2022 and there are no two ways about it,” he told the gathering.
Muluka said the council met in line with the directives of the Registrar of Political Parties.
"One of the most critical resolutions of the meeting was the endorsement of Musalia Mudavadi as ANC's flagbearer for the year 2022," Muluka said.
Mudavadi has maintained that he will not support anyone in 2022 as he had done in previous elections. He has, however, said he is ready to work with like-minded politicians such as the deputy president so long as they support his presidential bid.
The changes to the ANC constitution come hot on the heels of calls by MPs Ben Washiali (Mumias East), Mwambu Mabonga (Bumula) and Malulu Injendi (Malava) for Mudavadi and his Ford Kenya counterpart Moses Wetang’ula to join forces with Ruto for 2022.
They said the two should join the Ruto bandwagon “before it is too late”.
In September 2019, Ruto — while attending a women’s function at Nabwani in Sabatia constituency, Mudavadi’s backyard — caused a stir when he asked the ANC leader to join his team.
“I would like to tell you that Musalia should join my team and the team of Moses Akaranga (former Vihiga Governor) and Benjamin Washiali (Mumias East MP) so that we form the government," Ruto said.
Lately, speculation has been rife that Mudavadi could team up with the DP following numerous visits by Ruto's allies to the ANC leader. In May, Mudavadi met Sirisia MP John Waluke and Uasin Gishu Governor Jackson Mandago, both disciples of the DP.
But Mudavadi has dismissed the claims even as he remains emphatic that he cannot work with Ruto if his role is only to help the DP succeed President Uhuru Kenyatta. If the DP can't forgo his presidential ambition in 2022, then they will be competitors, he said.
Edited by F'Orieny