Wiper Party leader Kalonzo Musyoka on Tuesday, March 1, made public the secret Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that he and Orange Democratic Movement party leader Raila Odinga signed during the formation of the National Super Alliance (NASA).
Under the deal, Raila promised to support Kalonzo's Presidential bid in 2022 regardless of whether NASA would win the 2017 General Election.
The Wiper leader explained that although they had agreed to keep the MoU secret, he was forced to go public for the sake of clarifying his stand in the ongoing negotiations for the Azimio Presidential candidate.
"I'm giving you copies and I will just read out a few paragraphs. And understand that this document, by its nature, was supposed to be a secret. However, I have explained to the parties the need to make things clear.
"As we begin the fresh rounds of the negotiation process leading to the August election, I have been compelled to release the above document in order to answer some of the criticism labelled against me, quote as being the indecisive kingmaker," he stated.
He noted that he had tried twice to have Professor Makau Mutua convene a meeting between him and Raila in order to deliberate on the deal that was allegedly breached. The US-based Kenyan lawyer was reported to have been the one who drafted the MoU.
The Wiper leader explained that the alleged breach was the reason he skipped the ODM National Delegates Conference (NDC) - noting that his presence would have been to acquiescence to the legally binding agreement.
He noted that President Uhuru Kenyatta played a key role in the negotiations between him and Raila in the proposed Azimio-OKA grand coalition.
"I am ready to work with Odinga but our 2017 NASA document that is legally binding must be a factor in the new negotiations.
"Raila Odinga has an option of abiding by the terms of this binding agreement or has the option of choosing to act in utter defiance of the agreement and thereby compounding the trust deficit," he pointed out.
He added that he would not agree to any more secret agreements and would insist on structured negotiations where he committed to a grand coalition bringing together ODM, Jubilee, and Wiper.
Leader affiliated to Raila have in the past referenced the 2017 MoU but insisted that it would not be valid since some of the parties had since left NASA.
A similar deal had been made between Raila and Kalonzo in 2013 but was overtaken by events as it had not specified what would happen if the ODM candidate did not win the 2013 presidential race.
Kalonzo also dispelled that the deal involved the former NASA principals comprising of ANC party leader Musalia Mudavadi and his FORD Kenya counterpart Moses Wetangula- affirming that the deal was struck separately.
"This has nothing to do with the NASA coalition deal, this was separately negotiated and that's why I pity my friends who left me for Kenya Kwanza. They told me in 2017 that they agreed to back Raila as President and didn't mind any deal that we struck with him. So I went ahead and negotiated this very important and legally binding document," he noted.
