Disquiet has unsettled ODM leader Raila Odinga’s camp over disorganisation in handling turbulence in the Azimio la Umoja One Kenya coalition.
It is believed the former Prime Minister and his handlers have not managed to contain their coalition partners, keeping them on a tight lead, even after learning of their intention to quit.
Kilifi Governor Amason Kingi and his Machakos counterpart Alfred Mutua, who had sworn allegiance to the ODM leader, recently quit the jumbo coalition. They said they were sidelined from decision making by larger parties and generally excluded. They also complained they were not allowed to read the coalition agreement and told they already had their one chance.
Kingi and his Pamoja African Alliance party divorced Azimio la Umoja and entered a pact with Deputy President William Ruto and his Kenya Kwanza Alliance. Raila and Ruto are arch rivals for the presidency on August 9.
Both protested zoning, activities shrouded in secrecy and contempt for smaller parties, citing big names in the coalition.
A number of Raila's ardent supporters, in their Twitter posts, shed light on the 'politically costly' disorganisation.
The feeling is unsettled business — and the rate at which they play out publicly in a tight election where optics is key, may diminish the long-held hope of a Raila presidency.
Lawyer Donald Kipkorir said the coalition “needs to fix its internal sabotage and intrigues as soon as possible".
The renowned Nairobi-based lawyer asked President Uhuru Kenyatta and the former Prime Minister to take personal charge of the coalition.
“A political coalition should be run like a military organisation with all partners being on the same page, and any disputes resolved internally,” Kipkorir said.
It is commonly believed by many political pundits that the ODM leader has failed to counter the raids by Ruto.
Mutua and Kingi’s influence in their vote bases may be a question, but the concern of some insiders equally is that the loss of a single vote may dent Azimio’s strategic chances in the face-off with their rivals.
It is argued Deputy President Ruto’s Kenya Kwanza has put on a better show of keeping their internal disputes under wraps.
Equally in Kenya Kwanza, however, there are hushed suggestions of big fights for positions and a share of government influences, which is commonplace in coalition negotiations.
The outstanding difference is how skilfully each side has navigated the crises of balancing competing internal interests.
Pundits have said and observed that as the head of Azimio, Raila has not done a splendid job to contain Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka.
This disorder is said to have prevailed — and may not end until the dust of the running mate debacle settles — despite the obvious negative effects of the former VP’s actions and utterances.
It is also a commonly held view, including among Azimio insiders, that the former Prime Minister may have not handled the ODM nominations well, given the bitterness, defections and running as independents.
Saudi-based banker Mohamed Wehliye also issued a wake-up call, saying the ODM leader was being let down by his team.
“Azimio needs to wake up. [They are] currently very disorganised. Poor in communications, too many cooks and lots of negative news everywhere,” he observed.
Wehliye, who is pro-Raila, added, “You can't plan with kiburi (pride), chest-thumping and total disregard for data and expect to win an election. This election is for Baba (Raila) to lose but he is being let down.”
In his recent tours of Mt Kenya, Raila, 77, spoke of a plan to bond the candidates to deny rivals the advantage of reaping from the splits.
He said there would be further negotiations to stem a falling out among those competing for the five other seats in the race.
“We have a clear programme as Azimio. We will bond our members," he said, revealing that member parties will campaign with one manifesto, which is in the works.
Raila’s handlers say they are being flogged unfairly. Since Azimio is a house of 26 political parties [though PAA and Maendeleo Chap Chap have left], they hold there is 'bound to be grumbling.'
Former Cabinet Secretary Raphael Tuju, who is now the Azimio la Umoja Campaign Secretariat executive director, dismissed the notion there were noticeable upheavals in the Raila-led coalition party.
“Even if it’s a family of 26, will it be devoid of different points of view? I don’t see any crisis in that. We are a family of 26 members and there is no way you can have 26 members and not have any dispute unless you are benefiting from a dictatorship,” Tuju, a communications expert, said.
He told the Star that Azimio is not like other political outfits where “anybody who expresses a different point of view is going to be clobbered".
“There are some places where they can show unity in public but nobody is allowed to speak their mind. If they do, they will be thrown out. I consider it quite reasonable that people are able to air their views as members of Azimio,” the former Rarieda MP said.
He dismissed the exit of Mutua and Kingi, saying they are “not worried about it”. “I’d be worried if the facts were different but we have the facts and they don’t inspire any worry on our part.”
Tuju said it should be appreciated that “different parties have joined Azimio for different reasons”, but others “have unreasonable demands”.
He gave an analogy of an unnamed party asking for four Cabinet positions – for example, three ambassadorial posts, a PS and so forth.
“There are only 22 Cabinet positions, then someone says they want four. Even if you are to give one for every member, they wouldn’t be enough,” the ex-Cs argued.
On whether Azimio operations are shrouded in secrecy, Tuju said the question should be, “How much is what is going in Kenya Kwanza in the public domain?”
“Maybe Kenyans want us to be more accountable because we are the next government,” he said in a phone interview on Thursday.
Ugandan born Kenyan-based lawyer David Matsanga said it was time Azimio brought on board more “political tacticians, strategists and good communicators.”
But functionaries who have walked with Raila through the aeons-long liberation journey say what appears to be lapses in eyes of pundits could be deliberate.
Former ODM director of Political Affairs Wafula Buke said Raila “is the only man who emerges strongly from chaos” and that there is nothing new about the worries.
“After all the chaos, and at the end of the day things are rammed to order and the march to this Canaan that seems like a receiving target always begins,” he said.
Buke revealed that the ODM is consultative and can run up to 10 serious think-tanks at the same time, some giving him advice on similar issues from which he gauges the best.
“He consults all of them, moves from one to another. That is Raila’s style. The chaotic type of environment in which all ideas are coming out and checking what works best,” he said.
“He prefers not to be predictable. That way, all ideas come up and leaders emerge. What people call chaos around Raila; that is a stepping stone to order,” Buke said.
He adds that with the support of the ‘organized, structured, and institutionalized government’, “the order (we shall have) will be like never before because we are complemented by the system.”
“You may say he is disorganized but Tuju is there. He has been forever in government. He knows how things work. A guy like that comes in the picture.”
“The partnership we have with the government guarantees that out of this chaos there will be order like we were never there before,” Buke said.
“He always manages to bring order. Whoever has fears of who will do what should know that after all these, there is always order.”
The political analyst further explained, “The beautiful thing about the disorder is that it is the time all ideas fly left right and centre. All factions are in action and everybody is a factor. From that chaos, (we) harvest the prime and move on.”
