- The NDC will give Mudavadi the mandate to spearhead and engage in any coalition arrangement
- Mudavadi will also unveil his 10-point agenda for the nation during the NDC.
Image: ALVIN RATEMO
ANC leader Musalia Mudavadi has told his supporters to brace for a major announcement on January 23.
He also denied snubbing Friday's Oka meeting in Elementaita.
Mudavadi said he was engaged in organising ANC's National Delegates Convention at the Bomas of Kenya in Nairobi, where he will make the announcement.
"I have heard people say I am slowly moving out of Oka. Just wait, there is a major announcement that will shake the country. There is no need for doubts," Mudavadi told journalists in Nyamira town on Sunday.
Speaking to the Star a day earlier, Mudavadi said the NDC will give him the mandate to spearhead and engage in any coalition arrangement that “will be beneficial to the people of Kenya and the party.”
“The NDC is very important for the ANC fraternity and the nation as a whole. Kenyans will get to know what we want to achieve as a party,” he explained.
Asked whether the party will allow him to support another candidate, Mudavadi said the NDC will open the doors to possible coalitions.
“The top party organ will make a clear, specific resolution which I cannot pre-empt now,” he said.
The revelation by Mudavadi came as his Oka counterpart Kalonzo Musyoka (Wiper) insisted he will not shelve his presidential ambitions for Deputy President William Ruto or ODM boss Raila Odinga.
There have been reports that Kalonzo is poised to join Raila’s Azimio la Umoja Movement. Kalonzo, who spoke in Yatta, Machakos county, on Saturday said he is confident his name will be on the ballot.
In an interview with the Star, Mudavadi said ANC will be nominating him as a presidential candidate but said the party's decision will not mean he is walking away from Oka.
“All other Oka parties have nominated their presidential candidates. What will happen in Bomas will not be different from what happened to Ford Kenya, Wiper and Kanu when they had similar meetings,” he said.
ANC unveiled a new constitution on August 14, 2020, with changes that make the party leader the automatic presidential candidate.
If the NDC ratifies these changes, it will give the party leader the approval to go for the presidency and nothing else.
The NDC comes hot on the heels of attempts by DP Ruto to woo Mudavadi and Ford Kenya leader Moses Wetang'ula to his side.
Mudavadi will also unveil his 10-point agenda for the nation during the NDC. Top on the list will be economic revival.
In Nyamira, Mudavadi dismissed claims of joining anyone in the August election, saying Kenyans should wait for his final announcement during the NDC.
He was with Nyamira Governor Amos Nyaribo, Deputy Governor James Gesami, Nairobi Senator Johnson Sakaja and a host of MCAs allied to ANC.
Mudavadi held a consultative meeting with Governor Nyaribo and MCAs allied to him from Nyamira.
He urged Nyamira residents to elect Nyaribo.
"I humbly request our people who have good will to support Governor Nyaribo in his bid to continue running Nyamira because as his party leader, I see a leadership in him," the ANC boss added.
Sakaja urged residents to elect leaders who will empower them economically.
"If you look across, there are very few leaders who are advocating for economic empowerment. Musalia is one of them, just read his lips and know that in him, there is a government," Sakaja said.
Edited by A.N