• Kalonzo said Kenyans should not "mind" statements by Jubilee vice chairman David Murathe and Cotu secretary general Francis Atwoli as they are personal views.
• He said while the duo is entitled to their opinions, they will give way to other overriding interests going forward.
Image: MUSEMBI NZENGU
Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka has dismissed as premature claims by some politicians that ODM boss Raila Odinga is President Uhuru Kenyatta's heir apparent.
Kalonzo said Kenyans should not "mind" statements by Jubilee vice chairman David Murathe and Cotu secretary general Francis Atwoli as they are personal views.
He said while the duo is entitled to their opinions, they will give way to other overriding interests going forward.
"If we're to negotiate a coalition with Jubilee, then the issues my friend David Murathe is talking about will, of course, be subject to discussion. Let us not jump the gun," Kalonzo said during an interview with NTV on Saturday night.
The Wiper leader said when the right time comes for negotiations, all cards will be put on the table.
"I must tell you that when at the negotiating table, never mind what my friend David Murathe and Francis Atwoli are saying about my friend Raila Odinga. We will put all those things together at the table," Kalonzo said.
Murathe, a Jubilee insider and President Uhuru's confidant, last week said Kenya should prepare for 'president' Raila Odinga in 2022.
"Raila has guaranteed that so far, and went out of his way to support Presidents Moi, Kibaki and now Kenyatta. He has proved beyond doubt that he has a big heart and is a statesman. Let us reward him," Murathe told the Star.
Uhuru, Murathe added, will also prefer Raila as a way of settling a historical debt between his father Jomo Kenyatta and Raila's father Jaramogi Oginga Odinga.
Murathe's remarks were backed by Atwoli who also said that it was time for Raila to become the country's chief executive.
During the interview, Kalonzo said that Nasa coalition is still alive despite Raila's claims that it died when it failed to win power in 2017.
He said legally, the Nasa constituent partners — Wiper, ANC, ODM, Ford Kenya and CCM — are still members of the coalition.
"I can correct my senior brother on that. If he looks at the document it says that Nasa would continue to work together in Parliament until 2022. That is a public document and I don't think it died with the winning or losing the 2017 elections," Kalonzo said.
He said he will run for the presidency, denying claims he might once more play second fiddle in the 2022 General Election.
Kalonzo ran for President in 2007 but became Mwai Kibaki's deputy following the disputed poll results that almost brought the country to its knees.
In the 2013 polls, Kalonzo was Raila's running mate, then flying the Cord flag. He took the same role again in 2017 when Raila ran as the Nasa coalition candidate.
With a single shot at the country's top seat and two running mate roles, Kalonzo says that time has come for 'President Kalonzo Musyoka'. “I am going for the real thing God willing,” Kalonzo declared.
The Wiper boss said he and his party have already made his candidature in 2022 clear.
“We are prepared and raring to go. The time for President Kalonzo Musyoka has come. The time is now,” Kalonzo said.
The Wiper leader said that all the key political leaders in the country should prepare either to join him or face him at the ballot where he will vanquish them.
“Any other leader who would be coming between me and running for elections would probably end up with me in the same coalition of facing me on the other side,” Kalonzo said.
The Wiper leader's remarks come at a time his party is seeking to seal a coalition agreement with President Kenyatta's Jubilee Party.
The ex-VP's allies have indicated the Wiper leader's strategy to sign a deal with Jubilee would raise his stakes in the battle to succeed Uhuru.
Key politicians including Raila, Musalia Mudavadi (ANC), Gideon Moi (Kanu) and Deputy President William Ruto are also seeking the President's blessings for the country's top job.
However, Kalonzo said it's necessary to walk into the 2022 elections knowing that Kenyans would never turn against each other over polls.
Kalonzo said some leaders are dishonest pretenders and cannot be entrusted with the well-being and the future of the country.
“What I have gone through is immaterial. I can suffer personally, but the country needs to be safe,” Kalonzo said.
Regarding the Building Bridges Initiative, Kalonzo said the BBI moment offers Kenyans an opportunity to put permanent glue on their unity.
The Wiper leader denied claims the he supports the BBI because he has been promised a powerful position in the new government structure being proposed.
“What is important to me is to have an all-inclusive country. We have seen the dangers of negative ethnicity. We want a country that will go into the next elections without fighting and killing each other,” he said.
Responding to Makueni Governor Kivutha Kibwana's remarks that he should retire because he was too old, Kalonzo said the county boss was actually older than he.
"Who should leave the stage for whom? Kibwana is older than me. He was always one year ahead of me in school," he said.
The Wiper leader said even Kibwana was aware that it was Kalonzo's time to ascend to the top seat of power.
(Edited by o.o.)