One on one with William Ruto, Raila Odinga will win the August 9, elections hands down. The biggest problem for Azimio and Raila is none other than Stephen Kalonzo Musyoka.
Raila and many Azimio aspirants have been doing very well on the campaign trail with incredible crowds and a lot of energy. It looks very promising.
But every time we hear about Kalonzo it is about his demands to be the running mate or to be given a third of the government. It is tiresome, to say the least. And it is beginning to bring a lot of turmoil to the Azimio la Umoja coalition.
When Kalonzo joined Azimio he demanded his “three-legged stool” of Jubilee, ODM, and OKA as the only legit members of the Azimio team. Kalonzo demanded and screamed loud for a name change to reflect his three-legged coalition fantasy.
Read: No Dr. Mutunga, there will be no handshake after the August 9th elections
When Martha Karua formally joined Azimio to make it a ten-legged stool she did not make any fuss and has made no demands for herself. They want to win as a team and that is what makes Azimio appealing to Kenyans.
Kalonzo it seems wants to be the Ruto in the Raila government if they win. From the looks of it, Kalonzo will start campaigning to be Kenya’s president in 2027 as soon as Azimio is in power. So he has to be given the DP job.
From what Kenyans have seen with Uhuru and Ruto’s disconnected government the last thing they want is the same setup with Raila and Kalonzo.
Wiper is pushing for party leader Kalonzo Musyoka to be Raila Odinga’s running mate in the coming presidential elections.
Addressing a meeting of aspirants eyeing the party’s ticket in Nairobi yesterday, Wiper leaders, including Makueni Senator Mutula Kilonzo Jnr and his Kitui counterpart Enoch Wambua, stated that Mr. Musyoka deserved the running mate post owing to his influence and experience in national politics.
“Wiper will produce the next Deputy President in Kenya because we will be in government,” said Mr. Kilonzo Jnr.
On his part, Mr. Musyoka said: “I’m going to campaign for Raila like never before and those who are asking who is going to be the running mate, that is obvious”.
The leaders told the aspirants that even though some may lose at the nominations, they should not lose hope since Wiper will be in the next government and they could benefit from other opportunities. However, Kalonzo’s push to be Raila’s running mate remains unofficial even as the coalition party continues with consultations on the matter.
“What is happening is that we will be consulting with my colleagues so that we get a running mate who will add value to the ticket as we move forward. It’s not a priority but an issue we are going to address at an appropriate time,” said Mr Odinga during a meeting with party leaders in their formation.
Here is the Azimio Kenyans want and it should stay that way.
One good thing Raila did was to appoint Prof Makau Mutua as the head of Azimio Secretariat. He has been very professional about his job and never ventures into the usual partisan noise-making within the coalition.
It is working great for Azimio. Keep going. We are four months away from getting a government Kenyans deserve and they will vote for it.
At the end of the day, the Kalonzo issues will be on the side and he will be a key piece in defeating Ruto completely which is what Kenya needs and it has to be done. The whole country knows that.
Adongo Ogony is a Human Rights Activist and a Writer who lives in Toronto, Canada
