Insiders within Azimio La Umoja-One Kenya coalition claim that Wiper Leader Kalonzo Musyoka countered President Uhuru Kenyatta and former Prime Minister, Raila Odinga with his own demands during a recent meeting at State House.
Kalonzo was said to have initially demanded a gubernatorial post in Nairobi or Mombasa and had fronted former Nairobi Governor, Mike Sonko, as his preferred candidate.
His alternative was fronting Prof. Phillip Kaloki as the running mate in Nairobi if Wiper ended up being denied the governor’s post in the capital.
The meeting at State House, attended by top brass Azimio leaders in mid-April 2021, sought to resolve the Nairobi city gubernatorial stalemate and agree on the selection of Raila’s running mate.
Raila is seeking his fifth stab at the presidency and enjoys the support of Uhuru who is serving his second and final term as the country's Head of State.
In the meeting, it was reported that Kalonzo who has been adamant that he is the best running mate for Raila, fronted his idea of Wiper being given the Nairobi gubernatorial seat.
However, Jubilee under Uhuru countered, arguing that they should lead the race in Nairobi and in return continue supporting Raila’s candidacy.
Uhuru endorsed former Nairobi Deputy Governor, Polycarp Igathe as his preferred candidate and asked Raila to convince Westlands MP, Timothy Wanyonyi to shelve his gubernatorial ambitions.
Kalonzo, on the other end, resorted to endorsing Sonko as Wiper's gubernatorial candidate in Mombasa, one of Raila’s backyards. Raila’s Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), had earlier cleared Mvita MP Abdulswamad Shariff Nassir and Sonko’s entry in the race further complicated the equation.
It is not yet clear whether Uhuru, Raila and Kalonzo discussed Sonko’s entry in the Mombasa race and how Raila’s ODM perceived the same.
Nonetheless, a meeting was later scheduled for Thursday, April 21 at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) to ratify the agreement on the Nairobi gubernatorial race.
At KICC, ODM’s Timothy Wanyonyi was reported to have stood his ground to remain in the Nairobi gubernatorial race but was prevailed upon to bow out in favour of Igathe.
Wanyonyi was asked to defend his Westlands parliamentary seat, facing off with United Democratic Alliance’s (UDA) Nelson Havi, the former Law Society of Kenya (LSK) president.
While still at KICC, Kalonzo demanded Kaloki to be selected as Igathe’s running mate. Uhuru and Raila yielded.
“I think the media will remember my strong words when we said that we are giving them Kaloki and if they joke around, we shall put him on the ballot,” Kalonzo chest thumped during Igathe-Kaloki’s endorsement in Nairobi.
“Negotiations happened and we are happy now,” the former Vice President.
In the end, the casualties of Kalonzo’s bulldozing were Wanyonyi and businessman Richard Ngatia who dropped their bids.
“I remain firmly in my party ODM and Azimio la Umoja One Kenya. I am ready to serve the people of Westlands for the third time and I remain firmly in my party ODM and Azimio la Umoja One Kenya. To all my supporters thank you for believing in me, the dream lives on," the lawmaker stated.
