Details of a phone call President Uhuru Kenyatta made to Wiper leader, Kalonzo Musyoka, have emerged. According to reports, the call changed Kalonzo's mind on the Azimio La Umoja One Kenya running mate interviews.
Insiders indicate that the President nudged the Wiper leader to attend the interviews as a way to solidify his support and loyalty to the Azimio coalition.
During the call, Uhuru is said to have notified Kalonzo that if he does not show up, his chances of being selected as Raila Odinga's running mate would be slim.
Kalonzo, on the other hand, is said to have weighed his options after the phone call and what he would lose by failing to attend the interview. This, according to the reports, forced him to face the selection panel on Tuesday, May 10.
Asked on his change of mind to attend the interviews and drop his dialogue calls, Kalonzo, however, stated that he made the deliberate decision to attend the interviews in order to deny Raila an excuse of not selecting him as his running mate.
The selection panel, led by veteran politician Noah Wekesa, will be presenting its results of the interviews to the heads of Azimio coalition - President Uhuru Kenyatta and Raila Odinga.
The panel will forward three names of the best performers and the running mate will be selected from among them.
The panel will meet Wednesday morning, May 11, and deliberate on issues such as the political implications of the candidates and what they stand to bring to the table once picked.
It will also consider if the candidate comes from the same party as the presidential aspirant and or if they are among those with competing interests from the regions their regions.
President Uhuru Kenyatta has been the unifying factor in Azimio La Umoja, playing an active role by the virtue of being the chairman if the coalition's council.
On Tuesday, May 10, when Kalonzo showed up at a city hotel for the interview, he told journalists that he was not coerced by anybody to show up.
Kalonzo stated that his failure to face the Noah Wekesa-led panel would easily give the team a reason to overlook him.
He maintained he was the most qualified person for the position having served as the country's Vice President under the late Mwai Kibaki and having been Raila's running mate in two consecutive elections.
"The decision to come was my own because I realized we (Wiper) did not want to give anybody an excuse whatsoever to say we refused to come. I am here and I can tell you it was a wonderful conversation.
"I took that decision. I am not at liberty to divulge the contents of that conversation," Kalonzo stated when asked what he discussed with the panel.
