This is just part of the price The National Alliance and United Republican Party leaders respectively had to pay in the bid to stem the tidal wave set earlier in the day by the reunion of Prime Minister Raila Odinga and Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka.
Sources within the two coalitions also revealed that with the union of Raila’s Orange Democratic Movement and Kalonzo’s Wiper Democratic Movement, Uhuru and Ruto desperately fought to win over Mudavadi so as to kill perception theirs was just a ‘coalition of the accused and two ethnic groups’.
The party officially is planning to make a ‘major announcement’ within six days, and speculation is already rife in political circles that contrary to coalition’s confirmation that Uhuru and Mudavadi would fight for the presidential ticket, Kenyatta could in fact step down as the candidate for the Sabatia MP.
Three reasons are being touted for this, the first being the fear that the candidacy of two leaders — Uhuru and Ruto — facing grave crimes against humanity charges, could attract insurmountable international pressure which could enhance the chances of Raila-Kalonzo beating them.
The second is the view that without a high-profiled partner measuring up to Kalonzo’s clout, their outfit ran the risk of being seen more as a union of two communities that have each given Kenya Presidents who served for long.
Finally, sources within the party revealed the two leaders felt that Raila had to be stopped by all means, because of their cases at The Hague, many in the URP-TNA coalition preferred a new ‘friendlier’ President in whose hands they would feel ‘safer. This would even be more important to them were they to be stopped from running because of the cases and Mudavadi would either have joined Raila or decided to finish the presidential race.
“On the surface, the deal is that Mudavadi will go for nominations with Uhuru for presidential nominations but the real thing is that they have promised to support him to run for the presidency,” added the sources.
Mudavadi’s late entry destabilised the earlier Uhuru-Ruto power sharing deal anchored on a 50-50 basis. Wednesday, when interviewed by The Standard, Mudavadi revealed the sharing ratio now is 33 per cent for each of the three leaders.
Long-drawn negotiations
Besides evenly splitting the appointments, including cabinet secretaries, ambassadorial and state corporations chiefs, Uhuru was named presidential candidate and the Ruto designated deputy President.
But the agreement, which had already been deposited with the registrar, also had to be recalled to incorporate demands by the United Democratic Forum party.
It was after the long-drawn negotiations on Tuesday night, that the power-sharing formula was revised with each party set to get 33 per cent of positions on offer in case of a win.
In addition, Mudavadi, who had been adamant he could not withdraw his presidential bid, secured a commitment he and Uhuru would face off for the coalition’s presidential ticket.
It is understood Mudavadi would settle for nothing less than a deal that still had him in the running for the presidency.
Before he eventually sealed a deal with Uhuru and Ruto on Tuesday night, Mudavadi had a busy weekend, as he sought out allies to craft the third force that however failed to fly.
On Sunday night, Mudavadi is understood to have held talks with Kenya National Congress presidential aspirant Peter Kenneth. Prior to the talks with Kenneth, the Sabatia MP reportedly had met Cabinet Minister Charity Ngilu.
The alliance involving Mudavadi and Kenneth appeared on course as the two on Sunday rode in the same vehicle for a Sunday service in Kiambu.
On Monday night, Mudavadi’s point man, former Cabinet minister Mukhisa Kituyi, was in marathon talks with Kenneth stretching into the wee hours of the morning.
Others in attendance were Justice Minister Eugene Wamalwa, nominated MP Musikari Kombo and former Cabinet ministers Raphael Tuju and Kipruto Kirwa.
It is these talks that were meant to culminate in the signing of the agreement for the third force that included Mudavadi at Freedom Corner on Tuesday.
However, on D-Day the deal appeared to fall apart when Mudavadi’s camp sent a press statement indicating it had been put off. At the time, the former Finance minister was said to be “having lunch” with Uhuru. “We were surprised to learn that he was communicating the cancellation of our signing ceremony as he was lunching with our supposed rivals,” said one of the leaders involved in the discussions.
Kalonzo is said to have been at Safari Park hotel on Saturday night where they attended an event together with Kenneth. Sources told The Standard that it is already known that Raila is the flag-bearer and Kalonzo the running mate.
In Raila’s Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (Cord), Ford Kenya Leader Moses Wetangula could be angling for the position of the Majority leader. He has also been linked to the position of Senate Speaker.
The sources said following the Raila-Kalonzo-Wetangula deal signing, Uhuru and Ruto hit the road to win over Mudavadi, despite having written off Raila many times. Sources close to Mudavadi said the two literally hunted down the Sabatia MP whom they called for meetings.
When he failed to show up the two drove to his Riverside residence where they met for close to three hours and reached a deal prompting both Uhuru and Ruto to craft another deal, which incorporated him. It was signed and dispatched to the Registrar of Political Parties and the one deposited earlier withdrawn.
Other insiders say Mudavadi has been promised that in the event the two were barred from running, they would support him to face the Raila coalition, which they see as the biggest threat to their bid.
Source: The Standard Digital
