NAIROBI, Kenya Jan 14 – Amani National Congress (ANC) party leader Musalia Mudavadi says he declined to attend President Uhuru Kenyatta’s State House meeting on Thursday because it was an Azimio La Umoja event.
Mudavadi’s Spokesperson Kibisu Kabatesi has told Capital FM News that the ANC Party leader turned down the invitation because he is a member of the One Kenya Alliance (OKA).
The alliance brings together Kalonzo Musyoka (Wiper), Moses Wetangula (FORD-Kenya), Gideon Moi (KANU) and Cyrus Jirongo of United Democratic Party (UDP).
“Yes, he received the invitation but he declined it because the forum was for Azimio La Umoja allied supporters,” Kabatesi said.
Mudavadi and the other OKA Principals snubbed the State House meeting in what continues to fuel speculation that they were firmly opposed to President Kenyatta’s call to have them back former Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s presidential candidature.
President Kenyatta has made it clear he prefers Odinga’s to succeed him in the August election.
On Thursday, Kenyatta and Odinga met more than MPs and Senators allied to the Azimio La Umoja Movement in what was seen as a strategy to push Senators to also pass the Bill.
The OKA Principals on Friday kicked off a three-day retreat in Naivasha to chart the way forward ahead of the polls and were set to receive a report from the technical committee which was mandated to give guidelines on how the alliance should approach the election.
All the other Principals availed themselves for the retreat save for Mudavadi who sent representatives to the meeting and opted to attend his party’s National Election Council (NEC).
The alliance is yet to identify its presidential flag bearer with Kabatesi revealing that the process would be arrived at through “consensus by the Principals”.
“The Committee was not tasked to identify the alliance presidential flag bearer as to what is being reported in the media,” he said.
Speculation has been rife in recent months that the alliance was operating on shaky grounds with Mudavadi’s perceived association with Deputy President William Ruto fuelling the rumors.
Kabatesi however, downplayed the rumors and affirmed that Mudavadi’s commitment to OKA is doubtless and that his absence from the State House meeting proved just that.