Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka & his Chama Cha Mashinani (CCM) counterpart Isaac Ruto signed a post-poll deal with ruling Jubilee Party on June 17.
The latest development comes amidst claims of a looming Cabinet reshuffle by President Uhuru Kenyatta.
Kalonzo was flanked by party officials including Chirau Ali Mwakwere (Chairman), Makueni Senator Mutula Kilonzo Jnr. (Vice-Chair), and his party's Secretary-General Judith Achieng Sijeny.
"We have accepted the President's call to work together. We are happy that we have been so well received by the Jubilee Party," Kalonzo stated, moments after the signing.
"This is a cooperation between Jubilee and Wiper. We shall cooperate fully in terms of enhancing Jubilee programmes in Parliament," he added.
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The closed-door affair came just minutes before the press conference that was conducted by Jubilee Party Secretary-General, Raphael Tuju, where the Wiper Party flag was placed right next to the ruling party's own, symbolising the new pact.
The new deal has been described as a post-election agreement that will see the three parties work together in the run-up to the 2022 General Election.
"We were the first party to have a ‘Handshake’ with Jubilee. We thank Jubilee for going out of their way to work with all leaders. We want a handshake between election competitors to be a norm in Kenya. As CCM, we are for peace," Isaac Ruto stated following the signing of the new deal.
On his part, CCM Secretary-General Zedekiah Bundotich Buzeki pointed out that that the key reason behind the new coalition was a shared interest of bringing Kenyans together.
On May 11, the Wiper Party leader gave the clearest hint yet that he working on a post-election coalition agreement with the ruling party.
“Wiper will be ready to enter into a cooperation agreement with both Kanu and Jubilee when that time comes. We are open to that.
“Wiper had our national executive council meeting virtually and we agreed that we need to open negotiations and be able to move in that direction.
“As Wiper, we are consulting with our coalition partners ODM, ANC, and Ford-Kenya [to] see what we can do. The country needs to come together at this time in order to unite,” Kalonzo explained.
His party is in a coalition agreement with Mr Raila Odinga’s Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), Musalia Mudavadi’s Amani National Congress (ANC) and Moses Wetang’ula’s Ford-Kenya, under the umbrella National Super Alliance (NASA).
However, speaking moments after signing the new cooperation deal with the Jubilee Party, Kalonzo was quick to point out that the NASA alliance currently only existed on paper.
"The NASA summit has never sat since the election and we need to be realistic in our assessment. If a summit cannot meet, how can we continue?" he remarked.
