- Raila is said to be going flat out to woo Kalonzo to his camp as the 2022 battle shapes up.
- Kalonzo has previously vowed never to work with Raila saying he would rather retire.
Image: ANGWENYI GICHANA
Opposition chief Raila Odinga is going flat out to reunite with Wiper boss Kalonzo Musyoka to bolster his 2022 State House chances against Deputy President William Ruto.
The Star has established that the ODM boss is leaving nothing to chance in seeking to hammer a fresh deal with Kalonzo.
Raila's deal with Kalonzo would give President Uhuru Kenyatta a firm grip on his 2022 succession plans, which have been threatened by Ruto's resurgence and a divided opposition.
The ODM boss's political think tanks believe that with more than 3 million votes in his basket, Kalonzo remains the most viable partner in next year's presidential race.
“There are ongoing discussions between Raila and Kalonzo with a view to burying the hatchet for the sake of Uhuru's succession plans,” an ODM official aware of the talks said.
Raila's strategists are hopeful that he will consolidate the Western vote bloc without the backing of Musalia Mudavadi and Moses Wetang'ula.
The two, alongside Kalonzo and Gideon Moi, are the principals of the One Kenya Alliance.
Raila's strategists believe that a solid backing in Ukambani, Coast, Nairobi, Western, Nyanza and at least half of the Mt Kenya votes will be enough to propel Raila to State House.
It is understood that Uhuru's confidants and business people from Central have resolved to back Raila's 2022 presidential candidature.
This would likely vanquish Ruto's bid to succeed his boss.
President Kenyatta has been calling for a reunion of the Nasa chiefs to form a formidable political machine that would field a joint presidential candidate.
However, Mudavadi is said to have taken a hardline position against working with Raila, forcing Uhuru's strategists to urge Raila to go for a deal with Kalonzo.
Image: COURTESY
The three Ukambani governors – Alfred Mutua (Machakos), Charity Ngilu(KItui) and Makueni's Kivutha Kibwana – are already working closely with Uhuru, leaving Kalonzo with few options.
On Friday, former Kajiado West MP Moses ole Sakuda said the Raila-Kalonzo ticket will easily romp to State House, with the support of Mt Kenya region.
“If they unite as we are seeing, that would vanquish Ruto completely,” he said.
Sakuda said the President is keen on having a united opposition that would face off with Ruto to avoid "recklessly” splitting vote blocs.
“The Ukambani votes are very crucial in Raila's 2022 presidential ambitions. He can't afford to lose the region because that would deal his bid a staggering blow,” Sakuda said.
Indicative of the Raila-Kalonzo unity push, the One Kenya Alliance called off key parliamentary group meetings that were planned for Friday and which could have sealed a deal to exit Nasa.
The decision, made to ostensibly allow for dialogue with ODM on contentious issues including the sharing of the political parties fund, shows that Kalonzo may not be averse to working with Raila.
On Tuesday OKA principals declared they would begin the divorce process with ODM to build their own 2022 political machine with the money issue at the heart of the marriage collapse.
On Friday Kiminini MP Chris Wamalwa, a member of the technical team working on setting up the alliance, told the Star that the meetings were suspended to pave the way for negotiations.
“We have decided to give dialogue a chance on the sharing of the political parties funds,” he said.
It is not, however, clear if Mudavadi's ANC and Wetangula's Ford Kenya will stay in Nasa if they receive the funds.
There is a feeling that ODM unlocking the millions of shillings could be part of the efforts to further entice Kalonzo.
Raila was supposed to meet Kalonzo on Thursday in Nairobi for talks referred to as deliberations on the sharing of the money, but the meeting did not take place.
It will take place in the course of next week.
Three weeks ago, Raila is also said to have held a meeting with Kalonzo ahead of Uhuru's tour of Ukambani.
Raila later accompanied Uhuru during the development tour, with the President praising the two for understanding real solutions to the country's problems.
“....that's why you hear Raila talking about infrastructure everywhere he goes and Kalonzo as well because they understand more what Kenyans need,” Uhuru said in Machakos.
Kalonzo was Raila's running mate in the 2013 and 2017 presidential elections.
Both times they claimed their victory was stolen and filed petitions at the Supreme Court.
Image: ONE ALLIANCE KENYA
They lost the 2013 petition but successfully overturned Uhuru's 2017 reelection before boycotting the repeat presidential poll.
Uhuru won by more than 90 per cent of the votes in the repeat election.
In 2013 Raila and Kalonzo, running on the Cord ticket, got 5,340,546 votes against the 6,173,433 garnered by Uhuru and Ruto, who ran on the Jubilee Alliance ticket.
In the August 8, 2017, General Election Uhuru and Ruto got 8,223,369 votes against Raila and Kalonzo's 6,822,812. The Uhuru-Ruto pair was backed by a strong Kikuyu-Kalenjin support base.
The win was nullified by the Supreme Court
It is believed that if Raila manages to bag at least 50 per cent of the Kikuyu votes together with Ukambani, he will comfortably win the presidency.
Uhuru's 2022 succession strategists believe a Raila-Kalonzo ticket will deliver a resounding victory in round one of the vote.
Uhuru's allies from Mt Kenya believe that they can deliver at least 50 per cent of the more than 7 million Central votes, to deny Ruto the much-needed springboard.
On Friday, veteran politician and nominated MP Maina Kamanda told the Star that the President is committed to building a formidable 2022 political machine that will win in the first round.
“Raila remains the best bet to beat Ruto in 2022 and that is why the other leaders, including Kalonzo, will have to work with him,” he said.
"The broader the alliance the better for our team but those who refuse and want to run on their own will lose miserably in 2022.”
Raila and Kalonzo fell out over the implementation of their 2017 Nasa MoU that bars ODM from fielding a presidential candidate in 2022.
According to the MoU, Raila would support Kalonzo in 2022 if the ODM leader won the 2017 election.
Kalonzo has said he would rather retire than support Raila a third time.
The One Kenya Alliance, which brings together Kalonzo, Mudavadi, Kanu's Gideon Moi and Ford Kenya's Wetang'ula, could find itself walking a political tightrope if the Wiper leader agrees to join Raila.
During a meeting on Tuesday, the principals were split on whether to work with Raila. They agreed to retreat to settle the matter.
Gideon and Wetang'ula are said to have no problem working with Raila, signalling they could warm up to the ODM boss in what would vanquish OKA.
“External forces are trying to scuttle OKA,” Wamalwa said.
“There are some people who do not want Nasa to die and those are the people holding us back so that we keep marking time.”
Edited by Josephine M. Mayuya