The seven-member panel conducting the search for Raila Odinga’s running mate starts interviews today amid fears of division in the vetting team after it declared mandatory grilling for all nominees.
Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka’s only representative in the team lifted the lid on simmering implosion in the committee that is expected to submit its report on Tuesday.
Kitui Senator Enoch Wambua on Saturday threatened to walk out of the vetting team protesting, among other issues, the late inclusion of Kitui Governor Charity Ngilu in the shortlist that has grown from the initial seven to 11 candidates.
“If I interrogate the panel and establish that we have just been put there to rubber-stamp a predetermined decision that is not good and suitable, take it from me, I as Enoch Kiio Wambua I will easily resign from the outfit,” Wambua said on Saturday.
The senator missed a crucial meeting of the panel that day where mandatory interviews for aspirants was passed.
But Suna East MP Junet Mohamed, the Azimio la Umoja Council Secretary, denied the existence of a rift among panel members.
“There is no fallout. The committee has not reported anything to the effect they are divided,” the MP said on Sunday.
Panel chairman Dr Noah Wekesa also poured cold water on the reports of rifts in the team, saying he was not aware of any displeasure by any of his members.
He said Wambua’s absence from the Saturday meeting was due to the senator’s pre-planned engagements, which he couldn’t cancel.
“Wambua is a good man. He told us very early that he had issues that he could not cancel. We have been with him all the way,” Wekesa said on phone.
The Kalonzo camp has rejected any arrangement where the former Vice President is paraded for grilling by the selection panel.
The Wiper team argues that taking Kalonzo through an interview was the highest level of public humiliation and disrespect to a man who has served the country as a Vice President and was twice Raila’s running mate.
Wekesa, however, told the Star that Kalonzo and all the other remaining candidates must either appear for grilling before his panel or forget the job all together.
On Sunday, indications were clear the Wiper leader would snub the panel in a move likely to stretch to the limit the unity thread holding together the Azimio coalition.
Speaking during a peace caravan in Wote, Kalonzo insisted on being Raila’s deputy even as his lieutenants maintain that the former Vice President will not appear before the vetting panel.
“People are saying they are ready for the journey I started with Raila in 2013 to end in 2022,” Kalonzo said.
Senator Wambua, his Makueni counterpart Mutula Kilonzo Jnr and former Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko led calls to exit the Azimio coalition if their demands are not met.
“If we don’t get justice in Azimio La Umoja One Kenya coalition we will exit the coalition. Nobody should confuse our pursuit for peace for cowardice,” Wambua warned on Sunday.
“We are not ready to be shortchanged anymore. On Tuesday if the committee does not announce Kalonzo as the deputy kitaumana (it will be business unusual),” Mutula added.
Makueni Woman Representative Rose Museu called for the disbandment of the Wekesa panel, saying it is unnecessary.
But the ex-Kwanza MP was adamant that the running mate position is too critical to be handled casually, insisting that anyone interested in Raila’s deputy job must be ready to face the panel.
Wekesa said the committee will seek their views on how to tackle national challenges like corruption and unemployment, among other pressing issues troubling Kenyans.
The team will grill all the 11 nominees on Monday and Tuesday and submit three top names to Raila for formal appointment.
The developments put Kalonzo at a crossroads on whether to ignore his lieutenants and appear before the Wekesa team or snub the team and live with the consequences, which include being kicked out of contention.
“Everybody is coming, you can take it from me. Raila cannot pick anybody outside what we are going to give him,” Wekesa said.
“This is not a simple interview that somebody wants a job. This is a serious matter. You want us to just come up with the name and we don’t know even those people?
“This is the number two job in this country. We want to be sure that these people are not going to do what has been happening. It is a serious matter; other people are taking it as a laughing matter.”
Last week, Kalonzo suggested a dialogue with President Uhuru Kenyatta and the Azimio presidential flag bearer Raila to deliberate on the running mate stalemate, insisting he would be unavailable for any interview by the panel.
"Nothing bars Raila, my brother President Kenyatta and I from sitting down and discussing this running mate issue," Kalonzo said while on his campaigns along Mombasa Road last week.
However, the panel has dismissed Kalonzo’s call, terming it insubordination and condescending.
“You want to be the Deputy President of this country and you can’t talk to small people? You only want to talk to Uhuru and Raila?” Wekesa posed.
The ex-Kwanza lawmaker is not a new name in political negotiations. In 2002, he was in the team that negotiated a lineup that had late President Mwai Kibaki and late Kijana Wamalwa as presidential candidate and running mate respectively.
Kalonzo, Muranga Woman Rep Sabina Chege, Narc Kenya leader Martha Karua, former Gatanga MP Peter Kenneth, Kanu chairman Gideon Moi and Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho are some of the nominees to be grilled between Monday and Tuesday.
Others are Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Peter Munya, Governors Wycliffe Oparanya (Kakamega), Charity Ngilu (Kitui) and Lee Kinyanjui (Nakuru).
Stephen Tarus was also shortlisted after his name was forwaded by National Liberal Party, an Azimio affiliate party.
A section of the panel is keen to have the candidates explain their past and current relationship with Raila and how that would impact their future ties.
"Some of us are of the view that some of the candidates need to appear before the panel to explain how they will gel with Raila given their past frosty working relationship," a committee member said.
While some of the candidates are said to have an easygoing personality and therefore compatible with Raila, others are seen as radical and hardliners.
The team is also considering Raila's age with a view to giving him a running mate "who will not be a troublemaker and disturb him when he needs peace of mind to lead the country."
"The essence is to give Raila a deputy who will be complementary, not a running mate who might establish his or her own centre of power in government," a panel member said.
Kalonzo had previously been quoted as saying that once Raila wins the presidency, as his deputy he would start campaigns to succeed him immediately after swearing-in.
He had said Ruto's growing influence was because of his early campaigns after taking the oath of office in 2013. The panel is said to be keen on Kalonzo explaining these remarks.
President Kenyatta has accused his deputy Ruto of abandoning him and embarking on early campaigns during their second term, triggering a bitter political war and falling out in government.
Junet, a staunch Raila ally and confidante, had previously voiced his concerns saying Raila does not need another Ruto-like deputy.
The Wekesa-led committee is on Monday expected to explore the item during the interviews, which Kalonzo on Sunday maintained he wouldn’t attend.
On Karua, the former powerful Justice Minister in Kibaki's government, the panel is keen to have her explain how she’d deal with her perceived hardline positions.
She has been cited for the tough positions she took during the grand coalition government negotiations in 2008, stances that sunk her relationship with Raila.
Karua, who has rolled out a vigorous campaign to market Raila in Central, had a nasty encounter with the late President Daniel Moi.
She walked out on him during a national event at Uhuru Park as she fought the Nyayo regime.
While some of the acts were seen as expressions of boldness and non-compromising positions, there is a feeling that they may be construed to mean the ability to undermine leadership.
"The vetting stage should include an assessment on how Raila has worked with the candidates in the past and how he can gel with them into the future," said political analyst and university don Alexander Nyamboga.
“The details should be made public because this is an open process aimed at giving Kenyans a voice in the process,” Nyamboga added.
There is also a feeling there is a need to pick an experienced politician who has knowledge of the working of government to avoid unnecessary squabbles and deliver the country out of the current economic downturn.
Most of those shortlisted have immense experience in government including Karua and Kalonzo, who served as Vice President for five years in the Kibaki government.
Oparanya has also worked as a minister for many years as well as Ngilu, Munya and Joho. Kinyanjui and Kenneth have served in government.
In what reveals likely intrigues, the committee had initially shortlisted seven candidates out of 20 but was forced to add more names including Oparanya, Ngilu and Munya.
Edited by Henry Makori
