The National Super Alliance (NASA) on Thursday named Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) leader Raila Odinga as the Presidential flag-bearer with Wiper party leader Kalonzo Musyoka as his running-mate.
New details now reveal that the former Prime Minister convinced the principals to hand him the ticket by assuring them that he would only rule for one term, should the Alliance win in the August 8 General Election.
Sources close to the NASA pentagon disclosed to the Nation that the ODM leader offered not to seek a second term during a Wednesday morning meeting, effectively breaking the deadlock on who would be the flag bearer.
The Wiper leader and his Amani National Congress (ANC) counterpart Musalia Mudavadi had reportedly maintained that they were the most suitable to take on President Uhuru Kenyatta before Odinga agreed to serve for only five years.
It is at this juncture that Musyoka and the ANC chief agreed to drop their ambitions but insisted that the deal must be “put in writing” and the entire agreement made public.
"That is why as the principals were at Uhuru Park, the legal instruments were being deposited with the Registrar of Political Parties. No one can go back on the agreement," the source explained.
By the time negotiations were being held, Ford Kenya’s Moses Wetangula is said to have already bowed out of the race in support of Odinga while Chama Cha Mashinani’s Isaac Ruto remained neutral.
If NASA wins the August 8 polls, Mudavadi is set to become the Premier Cabinet Secretary and will be deputised by Wetangula and the Bomet Governor.
Wetangula will be the Deputy Premier Cabinet Secretary of economic sector coordination ministries, while Ruto will be in charge of governance and devolution.
