President Uhuru Kenyatta and the One Kenya Alliance principals failed to reach a merger deal between their outfit and the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM).
Uhuru held a consultative meeting with the two political factions in Mombasa on Wednesday, August 18, with an aim of reaching a consensus between OKA and ODM.
The President failed to convince the OKA principals led by Kalonzo Musyoka of Wiper, Musalia Mudavadi of ANC, Gideon Moi of KANU, and Moses Wetangula of Ford Kenya, to fold their newly formed outfit and throw their weight behind the ODM leader, Raila Odinga.
The OKA leaders, however, agreed to look into the President's request after the much-awaited Court of Appeal ruling on the legality and constitutionality of the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) that is expected on Friday, August 20.
The OKA chiefs are said to have raised concerns on sharing of positions and choice of running mate.
The principals noted that they would convene a meeting immediately after the BBI case ruling in order to fine-tune their differences.
KANU has been non-committal on request by other OKA principals to pull out of its existing post-election coalition with Jubilee. The independence party has remained largely a part of the ruling party with its leaders expressing hope that the OKA principals will support the ODM leader.
"There is hope for unity. We have been saying all along that you cannot ignore Raila and neither can you ignore his former Nasa allies or Jubilee coalition which also consists of KANU," KANU Secretary-General, Nick Salat, stated.
"We are happy that leaders are seeing sense in the calls for unity and we hope we shall soon have a broader winning outfit."
Further, Uhuru warned OKA principals against creating chances of a run-off if they sought to lock horns with Deputy President William Ruto and Raila Odinga at the ballot.
"The OKA principals appeared to cede ground, but the meeting was not conclusive until the court pronounces itself on the BBI on Friday, August 20," a source intimated to the Nation.
"There are still hopes that the Appellate Court would resuscitate the drive and so the positions can be discussed next week."
Initially, the OKA principals had vowed not to support the ODM party leader arguing that he should return the favor to back one of the former NASA chiefs during the 2022 General Election.
Further, their allies have heaped pressure on them to give in to Uhuru's demands and drop their Presidential bids
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