An implosion appears to be imminent in the opposition Azimio coalition due to a simmering discontent by its key members.
This is over the ongoing national dialogue whose likely outcome is causing a clash of interest.
Indications of the possible fallout in the amorphous coalition was laid bare by the bitter exchanges between key figures in it on the seriousness with which they should treat the dialogue process, its likely outcome and emerging realities of ambitions of personalities.
It started with the report last week that showed that the opposition outfit’s head of technical group at the talks Jeremiah Kioni was engaged in a near fisticuff quarrel with UDA’s Hassan Omar over agenda of the panel.
The embattled Jubilee party secretary general later said the Kalonzo Musyoka and Kimani Ichung’wah-led team was a waste of time and that it would achieve no much good.
Makau Mutua, a key figure in the coalition’s power dynamics, took Kioni on, asking him to quit the team if he had lost confidence in it.
“My good friend Jeremiah should with immediate effect resign as head of the Azimio technical team at the Bomas talks. He’s repeatedly said the talks are a “waste of time.” He must resign unless he’s a hypocrite. How can one lead a team in talks he doesn’t believe in?” Mutua posed.
But the involvement of Martha Karua — a senior figure in the coalition’s pecking order given she was the running mate to Raila Odinga — made the squabble testy.
She responded to Mutua in defence of Kioni, giving a tacit support to the dismissal of the talks.
“My friend Makau Mutua I presume this to be your personal opinion. Kioni or indeed any of us cannot be gagged,” she said, suggesting her doubt whether Makau was speaking on his own accord or was a mouth piece of powers higher up.
Adding that, “the best proof that talks will go anywhere is results. Sixty days are almost over and the cost of living is sky rocketing, time will tell.”
The exchange between the two did not abate, with Mutua, a few days ago, taking on Karua directly over her association that brings together politicians from Mt Kenya region.
He accused her of tribal politics, a massive escalation and a deviation from the fraternity that has characterised relationships in Azimio.
“Sad to see senior folks like Speaker Moses Wetangúla of Kenya Kwanza and Martha Karua of Narc Kenya retreat to their ethnic cocoons. Karua is now in Kamwene, a Kikuyu outfit and Wetang'ula is calling for Luhya ethnocentrism. Have they abandoned the Kenya Nation as a realistic idea?” he posed.
It is notable that he grouped Karua as a member of Narc Kenya and not Azimio.
Mutua went on, “For the avoidance of doubt, Kamwene literally means “for myself and my own.” That’s not how to build a nation out of a disparate and inchoate African post-colonial state.”
Analysts also say the tension in the coalition could be fuelled by the uncertainty that the talks portends relative to the next elections.
Supporters of Kalonzo, the group's team leader to the talks, had earlier expressed optimism that he would use the stature of the panel to romp to the next election.
But the announcement by Raila that he is very much in the political scene heading to 2027 has set confusion in the group.