• Mudavadi, Kalonzo and Wetang'ula met for two hours at a Nairobi hotel on Tuesday.
•They agreed to get the views of their respective party officials before making any decision on the future of Nasa.
Image: WILFRED NYANGARESI
National Super Alliance principals Musalia Mudavadi (ANC), Kalonzo Musyoka (Wiper) and Moses Wetang'ula (Ford Kenya) will retreat to their parties to consult on the future of the coalition.
The move comes hot on the heels of a plan by affiliate partner Raila Odinga's ODM to enter into a coalition agreement with President Uhuru Kenyatta's Jubilee Party ahead of next year's general election.
The decision by Mudavadi, Kalonzo and Wetang'ula followed a two-hour meeting the three principals held at a Nairobi hotel on Tuesday.
The Star established the three principals agreed that they needed to get the views of their respective party officials before making any decision on the future of Nasa.
“The three principals are alive to the fact that they are still bound to the Nasa agreement even though the coalition is dead. The consultations will therefore border along the formation of a new coalition,” the source said.
NASA, which brings together ODM, ANC, Wiper, Ford Kenya and CCM, can only be dissolved when three members formally resign. So far, no affiliate party has left the coalition officially though all members have concurred that the alliance is technically dead.
Already, ANC, Wiper, Ford Kenya and independence party Kanu are in a new formation, the One Kenya Alliance.
A press statement issued by the three principals after the meeting on Tuesday said the trio met and discussed a wide range of issues concerning the current political landscape in the country.
“They resolved to issue a comprehensive statement on the state of Nasa in due course,” the press release said.
It is understood that the One Kenya Alliance intends to go all the way to the August 2022 ballot, complicating the plan by Uhuru and Raila.
Kalonzo maintained that he will not back down on his stand of not working with Raila in 2022 even as Uhuru asked Opposition politicians to face next year's elections on a joint ticket.
Uhuru has pledged to back whoever the Opposition leaders pick as the flag-bearer to take on Deputy President William Ruto.
Kitui Governor Charity Ngilu is also pushing for a united Opposition. On Tuesday, Ngilu advised Raila and Kalonzo to bury the hatchet and join hands towards clinching the presidency.
Ngilu reiterated the need for all the other presidential aspirants to unite to form a formidable force.
“If we all go it alone. We will not win. We have tried that before and we failed. I was there. We all went alone in 1992 and 1997 and Kanu beat us. In 2002, we came together and we beat Kanu. Why do they want to repeat a mistake we made before?” she stated.
ODM secretary general Edwin Sifuna noted that the Nasa pact states that in the event the coalition agreement is renewed, the Orange party will not field a candidate.
“There is no opportunity at all for a Nasa agreement to be renewed. I agree with what Kalonzo and Musalia have said, that there is very serious deficit of trust in Nasa,” he stated.
Speaking on Citizen television, Sifuna stated the breach of trust can be traced back to January 30, 2018, when some Nasa principals failed “to show up for a very serious coalition event”.
“I have seen people blame me for the death of Nasa. The person who pronounces death is not the person who caused it. The cause of death is the absconding of the swearing-in ceremony of Raila,” he added.
ANC deputy party leader Ayub Savula, however, said Nasa failed because ODM made a unilateral decision to enter into programmes and arrangements with other parties without consulting affiliates.
He further pointed out the refusal by ODM to share resources from the Political Parties Fund as another reason.
Nonetheless, ODM national chairman John Mbadi last Thursday said he could not rule out his party leader teaming up with Kalonzo in 2022, insisting that a lot will happen before next election.
“Winning an election is not about emotions but numbers. If we reach that time of negotiations and he (Kalonzo) is ready for talks we will put all these factors on the table in coming up with a winning formula,” he said.
Edited by Henry Makori