Governor Mutua in 'presidency talks' with Raila

Governor Alfred Mutua and Opposition leader Raila Odinga.

Opposition leader Raila Odinga Wednesday held talks with Governor Alfred Mutua in Odinga’s private offices in Nairobi.

Mutua’s convoy snaked in Raila’s private offices in Capitol Hill at around 9.35 am where the two leaders held a closed-door meeting which lasted about two hours.

Although Raila was not available to address the press after the meeting, Mutua revealed his discussion with the former Prime Minister touched on several issues of national importance, including 2022 general election and the succession of President Uhuru Kenyatta.

“I asked for his advice and shared with him my serious plans to run for the presidency in 2022. We agreed political generational change is critical in any society and I told him I was capable of running the affairs of the country,” Dr Mutua said.

Mutua, who has of late engaged a top gear in popularising his 2022 presidential bid and his Maendeleo Chap Chap party, revealed he and Raila were in agreement on the proposal to have an expanded executive with a directly elected presidency, a Prime Minister and a deputy Prime Minister.

“We agreed to consult occasionally on this matter even as he advised on strategies to popularise my bid nationally. Ideally, we agreed that ‘winner takes it all’ electoral system was responsible for the many problems facing the country and must therefore be changed,” said Mutua.

Mutua said elections should be transformed to be about ideological and policy contests and not tribal affiliations. “We need a scenario where those who lose in an election still continue serving in Government as senators, members of the national assembly and so on,” he said.

The Machakos Governor also hailed Raila for his ‘handshake’ with President Kenyatta, saying the move had promoted cohesion where all Kenyans can realize their full potential and dreams.

The ongoing fight against corruption also featured in Raila-Mutua talks where the two leaders agreed the war on graft should be intensified. “Kenyans will recall I was the first leader to call for a lifestyle audit of all public servants and he (Raila) and President Kenyatta did the same,” Mutua said.

Raila and Mutua also undertook to continue championing for an enabling environment for economic growth.

“Nothing stops Kenya from being at the same level economically with South Korea, Malaysia, Thailand and other East Asian tiger economies except greed and selfishness by her leaders. We have therefore agreed to support President Uhuru Kenyatta’s development agenda even as we set a firm foundation for amazing transformation in the near future,” he added.

During a function hosted last week by Isiolo governor, Mohammed Kuti, Mutua said his party was in the process of engaging ‘like-minded’ political parties with a view to forging a formidable force in the 2022 presidential campaigns.