Jubilee Vice Chairman, David Murathe has disclosed how former Prime Minister, Raila Odinga, went out of his way to offer Wiper Leader, Kalonzo Musyoka, a non-existent post to woo the indecisive Ukambani kingpin.
In an interview with NTV on Sunday, May 22, Murathe argued that the Chief Minister position created within the Azimio La Umoja-One Kenya coalition party would only have existed if the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) sailed through.
Kalonzo, he added, would be given the position of the Speaker of the National Assembly, which is anchored in the Constitution.
“The Chief Minister's portfolio offered to Kalonzo and Musalia Mudavadi (in the Kenya Kwanza alliance) does not exist in the law. It was to be created in the BBI which they (Kenya Kwanza) opposed and are now using to make those positions.
“You can have a Chief Minister the way Interior Cabinet Secretary, Fred Matiang’i is, but you ought to be a minister first in charge of the coordination of government affairs. That ranks you above all the other ministers,” Murathe stated.
He also watered down Kalonzo’s presidential aspirations, arguing that it would not have an impact on the candidature of Raila Odinga and his running mate Martha Karua.
Kalonzo announced that he would run for the presidency after Raila settled on Karua as deputy president. The Wiper leader named Andrew Sunkuli as his running mate.
He, however, kept his options open, and still negotiated on returning to Azimio to take up the Chief Minister's role.
“Kalonzo publicly announced that he was supporting Raila for the third time unconditionally, meaning he would not make any demands. He must be honest with himself when he runs away from Azimio after missing out on the running mate slot
“Thus, Kalonzo is still within Azimio as the agreement he signed says he cannot leave six months before elections and three months after. The reason for that clause is to bar principals from declaring allegiance to the other formation.
Murathe further warned Kalonzo against rocking the Azimio boat, noting that his fate was already sealed and he will only be given the position of the Speaker of the National Assembly and nothing more.
In a new twist, Kitui Governor, Charity Ngilu, stated that she is ready to take up the role offered to Kalonzo, in case the former Vice President is hell-bent on running for the Presidency.
“It is a great loss for Azimio to have Kalonzo Musyoka leave its ranks. He had said he is going to support Raila for president unconditionally. Where did the condition that he must be made running mate to stay with us come from?
“It is my desire to have him back to Azimio la Umoja. We have held meetings to convince him. However, we are aware of some leaders within Wiper who need to hang on Kalonzo’s coattails to win seats in the August 9 polls and are pushing him to run,” Ngilu noted.
Nonetheless, insiders within Azimio argued that Raila and Karua endorsed Kalonzo’s presidential bid to split the votes in Ukambani.
They claimed that this move would favour Azimio and dent Deputy President William Ruto's fortunes in the region. Kalonzo would, later on, rejoin Azimio in case of a runoff.
Meanwhile, Murathe underlined that President Uhuru Kenyatta is ready to retire but would retain power temporarily in the event of a runoff, prior to handing over government to the next President.
Uhuru, he said, will not campaign for Raila in Mt Kenya. This contradicts the President’s own promise to traverse the region with Raila, two months before the August 9 polls.
