NAIROBI, Kenya, Apr 28 – Kenya Kwanza Alliance co-principal Moses Wetangula has urged his former ally and Wiper Party Leader Kalonzo Musyoka to stop subjecting himself to “humiliation” in his pursuit of the running mate position in the Azimio coalition whose flag bearer is Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) leader Raila Odinga.
Whereas Musyoka has made it clear that “it will present a challenge if Odinga does not pick me (him) as his running mate” Wetangula warned that canvassing will only end in ‘premium tears’.
“My brother SK Musyoka, you have been Vice President for a full term, you have been Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s running mate twice. Don’t subject yourself to humiliation and ridicule by being interrogated as to your suitability for the same role/job,” Wetangula said.
Musyoka is among five candidates who have expressed interest in being Odinga’s running mate in the August elections.
Others who are reportedly eyeing the position include NARC Kenya Party Leader Martha Karua, former Gatanga Member of Parliament Peter Kenneth, Governors Ali Hassan Joho (Mombasa), Lee Kinyanjui (Nakuru) and Alfred Mutua (Machakos).
Musyoka who at one time threatened to withdraw his support for Odinga if he does not get to be his running mate on Wednesday held that “whenever Raila and I run together we cannot lose an election”.
“Now you may want to debate with that because in 2013 I keep on saying we won and then we did not win. In 2017 we won and then again we did not win. And in 2022 I have no doubt in my mind that we will win again. My constituency is big in this country and so I have to tell them there is hope,” he said.
Odinga has since appointed a seven-member panel to vet and advise him on the best running mate candidate.
“And now that we have set up a panel to interview me and other people I do not want to prejudge the issue but I still think Raila, Kalonzo is a ticket you cannot defeat in terms of its quality and experience but we will cross that bridge when we will get to it,” Musyoka said.
He added that the panel “will do all manner of things, conduct scientific opinion polls but we know the winning formula and so let us not beat around the bush.”
The 7-member team shall include Bishop Peter Njenga, Archbishop Zachaos Okoth, Senator Enoch Wambua and Michael Orwa.
Other members are Former MP Noah wekesa, Sheikh Khalifa and Beatrice Askul.
The 7-member team will sieve through the list of probable candidates and arrive at a decision through consensus.
The first onslaught for the team will be to agree on the rules of procedure for arriving at key running mate candidate for the coalition which has a sore thumb for the coalition.
The issue of a running mate has been a major headache in the mega movement threatening fallouts within the coalition.
The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) extended the deadline for Presidential and gubernatorial aspirants to submit the names of their running mates to May 16, 2022.
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