Photo Courtesy Capital News
It has emerged that the Wiper leader who announced on Monday is said to have demanded the inclusion of the portfolio offered to him in the coalition agreement to guarantee that the said office will be reserved for him.
Even after unveiling his running mate Andrew Sinkuli for the August 9th presidential election, Wiper Leader Kalonzo Musyoka could abort his exit from the Azimio coalition if last minute talks with bear fruits.
It has emerged that the Wiper leader who announced on Monday is said to have demanded the inclusion of the portfolio offered to him in the coalition agreement to guarantee that the said office will be reserved for him.
Kalonzo bolted out of the hurriedly arranged marriage with Azimio presidential candidate Raila Odinga after it became apparent the ODM leader had settled on NARC Kenya’s Martha Karua as his running mate.
Key allies in Kalonzo’s camp claim that the move by Azimio Coalition to reserve him the chief minister slot in the event they win the polls is ingenuine.
They argue that there is no constitutional provision that provides for the docket of chief minister and even then the promise has not been documented in the Azimio Coalition agreement deposited at the Registrar of Political Parties.
“The promise they gave us is not in the constitution. In fact, the much they can do is to give him (Kalonzo) a cabinet minister docket then add additional duties to his docket,” Machakos MP Dan Maanzo, a close confidant of Kalonzo, told Capital News on Wednesday.
“They knew that what Kalonzo wanted is to give him the running mate slot but they went ahead and gave it out to Karua yet Kalonzo has the votes,” he lamented.
Maanzo insisted that in the next two weeks they will be open for talks with the Odinga-led coalition but in the event the discussions flop Kalonzo will be okay to go it alone.
“We are still in the race but we are open for talks with principals in the Azimio coalition. What we know however is that we are well on course to be the third force in the August 9 polls,” he said.
While unveiling Sunkuli as his running mate, Kalonzo stated he will be going mute for a week to have consultations ahead of the race. With the new revelations, it turned out the break from politics was to provide room for the Wiper leader to renegotiate his stake in Azimio.
The Wiper Leader has until May 30, when Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) will gazette the final list of all candidates for the August 9 poll, to make up his mind on whether or not he will run for president.
It now seems that Kalonzo had a hidden card even as he engaged in coalition talks with Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Alliance.
Whether it was due to mistrust or past betrayal, Wiper Party presented the name its leader to IEBC as their presidential candidate.
And when Kalonzo failed to get the running mate slot in the Azimio Coalition he unleashed the secret card by unveiling his running mate.
“When Wiper Party conducted its National Delegate Congress we presented the name of Kalonzo Musyoka to IEBC. That was a long time ago even before we engaged in talks with Azimio. As technocrats in Wiper Party that was our Plan B, in case of any eventuality,” a source in Wiper’s National Elections Board stated.
The emergence of Kalonzo’s new demands comes even as the records at the Registrar of Political Parties show that Wiper Party is still under the Azimio Alliance as the registrar is yet to receive intentions from the party leadership to sever ties Azimio.
“That we can sort out and our legal team will be on the matter. It will not be an issue as Kalonzo will be on the ballot as planned,” Maanzo stated. By Irene Mwangi, Capital News