Raila’s new plot

By OSCAR OBONYO

Amid heightened competition for running mate and impending Cabinet reshuffle, Prime Minister Raila Odinga has suspended public political activity this weekend, and gone for a retreat at an undisclosed location in Kajiado County.

Raila has “gone under cover” with key members of the presidential campaign secretariat, and some players in ODM Reloaded team, in a move expected to brainstorm over his new presidential bid strategy.

The two-day closed-door consultations that kicked off yesterday also come against a backdrop of mixed fortunes for thePrime Minister. The dismissal of abuse of office charges against Tinderet MP and suspended Industrialisation Minister, Henry Kosgey, has energised the PM’s campaign in Rift Valley. But it has also piled up pressure on him to consider Mr Kosgey as a running mate.

The Standard On Sunday has reliably established that besides discussing the impending reshuffle and the slippery question of running mate, the Raila campaign team’s priority is how the PM can reclaim Rift Valley support, particularly among the populous Kalenjin community.

On this front, the PM’s team is focused on two key individuals – Kosgey and Roads Minister Franklin Bett. Kosgey, who is also ODM national chairman, is quietly engaged in a battle of supremacy with the Buret MP over the running mate slot. In fact the battle has taken a sub-tribal angle.

In a verbal exchange, Bett told The Standard On Sunday that the Kipsigis, who account for about 60 per cent of the Kalenjin population, had for long been short-changed by the Nandi and this time they deserved the slot. But Kosgey reacted by stating he was more focused and wanted to be Raila’s running mate because of his vision for ODM.

“My interest in being a running mate is informed by my commitment to the ideals of ODM on constitutional reforms and reconciliation. The difference between us is that Bett wants to be a running mate for anybody available. Mami lakwa nelen amoche kutuno ake tugul, (no girl goes around saying she wants anybody to marry her,” said Kosgey.

Noting that the ground is quickly shifting back towards the PM, former Eldoret South MP, David Koros, observes that the PM should consider appointing a running mate from the region, to secure the gains.

“Alternatively, we advocate for an arrangement where party delegates should be given opportunity to elect the PM’s running mate. Besides saving Raila the agony of appeasing and disappointing some of his supporters, we as a party shall take responsibility for the exercise,” says Koros.

Rift Valley card

Also drumming up the Rift Valley card is a team of ODM leaders in Nakuru County who want Raila and President Kibaki to reappoint Kosgey to the Cabinet. Speaking in Nakuru town yesterday, the officials led by their Chairman Peter Olesono, also asked the Prime Minister to name Kosgey as his second in command in the General Election.

Politicians from the region attribute the growing support for Raila to William Ruto’s apparent political wavering. Over the last two weeks, the Eldoret North MP’s presidential bid has come under attack from Lugari MP, Cyrus Jirongo. He has claimed Ruto “is not serious” about his bid “because he is part of a wider scheme to back someone else instead”.

Whether or not the sentiments have been digested accordingly, Raila is headed to the region in a fortnight to cement the gains and kick off his presidential bid. This is supposed to coincide with Kosgey’s second ‘homecoming’ party – possibly to celebrate his return to the Cabinet.

Besides the focus on Rift Valley, reliable sources say the Raila team is also toying with the idea of presenting to Kenyans a ticket of reformers: This is where the name of Imenti Central MP Gitobu Imanyara features. But Imanyara, who is a member of the famed Young Turks that pushed for the ‘second liberation’ in the 1990s, is yet to cross over to ODM.

The choice of a running mate is not only a major headache for Raila. Except for Eldoret North MP William Ruto, who has identified Trade Minister Chirau Ali Mwakwere, other presidential aspirants including, Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka, deputy premiers Uhuru Kenyatta and Musalia Mudavadi, and Narc-Kenya leader Martha Karua are still agonising over this question.

In ODM, Mudavadi was the obvious choice until he defected to United Democratic Forum. Before he fled, Joint Chief Whip Jakoyo Midiwo concedes the situation was tougher for the PM. This, he explains, is because the Raila-Mudavadi pair was viewed as a concluded presidential ticket and, did not therefore, generate new excitement or attract other players to the party.

Most sought after

“Mudavadi was like a man who had wedded Raila and few therefore cared to admire or woo him. But the exit of Mudavadi has finally exposed Raila as a beauty, and a most sought-after political bride,” says Midiwo.

Without disclosing names, the Gem MP confided in The Standard On Sunday that the PM has since received political overtures from many players and parties. Raila, says Midiwo, has equally reached out to many, including mending fences with former allies.

But Mudavadi, whose seat is one of those the Orange party is keen to give out, claims the PM is only using the ministerial and Government positions as a bait to keep some MPs in ODM.

The thinking in the Mudavadi camp, according to his spokesman Kibisu-Kabatesi, is that, by not relinquishing his position, the DPM is, in fact, doing Raila a “favour”. The PM, he says, would have an even bigger headache of political balancing were Mudavadi to relinquish his position. In the meantime, Raila’s presidential bid team has also unveiled a new lobby, Orange Council of Elders to complement campaign efforts of Bishop Margaret Wanjiru-Ababu Namwamba Orange Reloaded team.

Curiously, Rift Valley’s Kosgey is the interim leader of the team, which comprises of Deputy Speaker Farah Maalim (North Eastern), Ramadhan Kajembe and Gideon Mung’aro (Coast), and Planning minister Wycliffe Oparanya (Western). Others are Lands Minister James Orengo and Chris Obure, representing Nyanza, Fred Gumo (Nairobi), and Ngilu (Eastern).

Orange elder from central Kenya are yet to be identified, although Imanyara serves as the PM’s deputy patron of Friends of Raila lobby.

The Kajiado retreat comes three weeks after the death of Internal Security Minister and PNU Chairman, George Saitoti, whom Raila sensationally said had entered into a secret election pact with him, and his Assistant minister Orwa Ojode, whom now Raila must replace in Government.

Raila has other worries, though – his plummeting numbers in the latest opinion poll ratings, and a reluctant Ngilu, who has declared she would also run for president. The Narc leader had been identified as member of Orange party Council of Elders.

Meanwhile, The Standard On Sunday has learnt that Raila’s campaign team will host a cocktail party at Nairobi’s Intercontinental Hotel on Wednesday to concretise its strategies ahead of election in March.