Nominations headache for Azimio, KKA
Failure to reach a consensus on how to conduct joint nominations in the Azimio La Umoja is threatening the unity of the nascent coalition as some member parties oppose a suggestion to zone regions.
Deputy President William Ruto’s Kenya Kwanza Alliance is also struggling to come up with a nomination system that is acceptable to all the parties in the coalition.
In Azimio, how to conduct the primaries within the coalition is reported to have been one of the contentious issues during last Saturday’s talks between ODM leader Raila Odinga and Wiper’s Kalonzo Musyoka that delayed the signing of the agreement to work together.
Although Kalonzo ended up endorsing Raila, on Monday, he raised the issue of the nominations under the Azimio-One Kenya Alliance, maintaining all parties should be free to field candidates without restrictions.
He, however, said there was a possibility of negotiating regions where the coalition could field joint-candidates but ruled out joint candidates in his Ukambani stronghold.
“Many people have joined Wiper. Others will run on Kanu, Narc Kenya, UDP, MDG and Farmers Party. These are members of OKA.
We are not going to restrict anybody. Of course, when it comes to a place like Nairobi, we may then as Azimio One Kenya decide if we can all run or we do some mapping to get a candidate who will deliver for the coalition,” said Kalonzo during an interview with KTN News at his rural home in Tseikuru, Mwingi.
Wiper turf
Kalonzo, who is expected to occupy a senior role in the new coalition, promised to protect the Wiper turf, adding they will apply the “scorched-earth policy” to rid the region of any competing party.
The former Vice President is facing competition from the three Ukambani governors Alfred Mutua (Machakos), Charity Ngilu (Kitui) and Kivutha Kibwana (Makueni) who lead their own parties and have been attempting to dislodge him as the region’s kingpin.
The three are also prominent Azimio members but Kalonzo has vowed to rout their parties – Maendeleo Chap Chap, Muungano and Narc – in the region in the August elections.
“It would not make sense in Ukambani for other parties to field against Wiper. We intend to sweep Ukambani. Wiper will sweep Ukambani from MCA to governor. If others try to do funny things, we will be there to sort them out. They can sign under ODM and see if ODM will have any seats in Ukambani,” the Wiper leader said.
Kalonzo’s tough position has only made the situation tougher in the new coalition led by President Uhuru Kenyatta and Raila.
Nyanza locked
Although Raila has said they will look for a way that will be acceptable across the board in the coalition, his own party, ODM, insists it will lock its strongholds in the Nyanza region.
Recently, Suna East MP Junet Mohammed warned other parties within Azimio against attempts to oppose ODM candidates in the region, saying they will take them as enemies.
In Kakamega, Deputy Governor Philip Kutima has abandoned ODM for Democratic Action Party of Kenya (DAP-Kenya), which is one of the parties in the Azimio coalition.
Kutima accused his boss, Governor Wycliffe Oparanya, of frustrating him in ODM. Oparanya is one of the two ODM deputy leaders and the party’s regional pointman.
Kutima yesterday insisted that he was firmly in the governor race. “I have been very loyal to Governor Oparanya but he is not honest. He comes to my Malava home-turf and claims to endorse me but the next meeting elsewhere, he says he supports my competitor,” he said.
Before he left, he was expected to face off for the ODM ticket with former Kenya Electricity Transmission Company Managing Director Fernandes Barasa who is perceived to be Oparanya’s preferred candidate.
“I knew they wanted to humiliate me in ODM and that is why I moved to DAP-Kenya,” he added.
DAP-K refuge
Yesterday, DAP-K party chairman Wafula Wamunyinyi told People Daily they had not agreed on zoning of the country, saying the party will field candidates everywhere except for the presidential seat.
“We have said all along we will field candidates across the country. We have not agreed on any zoning,” he said.
The party, which is associated with Defence Cabinet Secretary Eugene Wamalwa, has been reaping big from the fallout in ODM and defections from Musalia Mudavadi’s ANC and Ford-Kenya of Moses Wetang’ula.
Kisii Senator Sam Ongeri is one of the ODM politicians who has recently defected to the new party.
Jubilee Director of Elections Kanini Kega said the party, which is also in Azimio, was focused on winning as many seats as possible in both Houses.
“We are more focused in Jubilee of having as many MPs and senators as possible,” the MP said yesterday.
Jubilee and ODM are yet to agree on who to field for top seats in Nairobi, a region being watched keenly as it has the potential of being the cause of serious divisions in Azimio.
There are two line-ups bearing the faces of both parties fiercely competing in the city, capturing the tricky situation awaiting those planning or a truce.
Small boy
Kenya Kwanza is in similar trouble in Kakamega County as former Senator Boni Khalwale, who has been the face of UDA and Deputy President William Ruto’s pointman in the region, appears unsettled after the party joined forces with ANC and Ford-Kenya.
What’s troubling him is the entry of Senator Cleophas Malalah, who is allied to ANC, into the governor race. The senator has asked Khalwale to drop his bid in his favour.
Recently, they indicated that they might work on an arrangement where one will vie for governor while the other will run for the Senate.
But at the weekend, Khalwale threw a spanner in the works when he declared that he had no time for negotiations and would go all the way to the ballot on August 9. “I can not sit anywhere and negotiate with a small boy like Malalah whom I introduced into politics. I am the only one who is capable of delivering the Kakamega governorship to Kenya Kwanza,” he said.
—Additional reporting by Dennis Lumiti
