Opposition in secret plot for an ‘all inclusive’ grand alliance for 2017 polls

ANC leader Musalia Mudavadi with Siaya Senator James Orengo at Amani House in Nairobi yesterday. Mudavadi was endorsed as the Amani presidential candidate for the 2017 elections. The Opposition is plotting to ambush President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Jubilee Alliance with a united front comprising leaders from all regions  in the 2017 elections. (PHOTO: JENIPHER WACHIE/ STANDARD)

The Opposition is plotting to ambush President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Jubilee Alliance with a united front comprising leaders from all regions  in the 2017 elections.

Modeled on the National Rainbow Coalition of 2002, which removed Kanu from power, CORD believes this is the only way to win the presidential election.

The super alliance is expected to bring on board ODM’s Raila Odinga, Kalonzo Musyoka (Wiper), Moses
Wetang’ula (Ford Kenya), Musalia Mudavadi (ANC), Hassan Joho (ODM) and Hassan Omar (Coast).

Former Cabinet Minister Ali Chirau Mwakwere is expected to defect to the Opposition to strengthen its grip on the Coast, while Mudavadi and Wetang’ula will work together in Western and lock out Jubilee.

Maalim Farah (ODM) will take charge of North Eastern. The Opposition is also wooing Jubilee rebels like Bomet Governor Isaac Ruto in Rift Valley.

 

Jubilee recently lost by-elections in Kisii, Kajiado and Turkana and leaders like Memusi ole Kanchori and Josephat Nanok will play key roles in Maasai land and Turkana. 

“The opposition is expanding and CORD will be part of the expanded opposition. Those focusing on CORD alone are therefore missing the point.”

Opposition leaders are crafting an ‘inclusive’ grand alliance modeled along the National Rainbow Coalition (Narc) of 2002 in a bid to defeat Jubilee at the 2017 General Election.

CORD principals have been holding behind the scene talks to bring on board influential faces from the 47 counties as it assembles an expanded opposition alliance before naming its flag bearer.

The new alliance has kept Jubilee guessing who President Uhuru Kenyatta and his running-mate, Deputy President William Ruto, will face as they seek a second term.

On Thursday, President Kenyatta, while on a tour of Rift Valley, dismissed the new opposition alliance and vowed to beat Raila Odinga and his allies at the elections.

Uhuru and Ruto’s tour of Rift Valley to reassure supporters came hot on the heels of ODM leader Raila’s outreach in Jubilee strongholds of Kericho, Narok, Kajiado and Central region. Raila was accompanied by Amani coalition leader Musalia Mudavadi in a recent tour of Tharaka Nithi County.

The idea of an expanded opposition comes against a backdrop of dozens of night meetings, some held in secretvenues, to assemble a political arsenal that would mount an irresistible bid to hand Jubilee a defeat. The move also brings on board small parties and politicians who have not been accommodated in the Jubilee alliance. Some of the politicians in talks about the grand alliance include former presidential candidate James ole Kiyiapi besides big guns like Bomet Governor Isaac Ruto, Amb Chirau Ali Mwakwere and Mudavadi, who is now a vocal advocate of a super alliance.

At the core of the alliance is an inclusive policy in terms of appointments to public and state jobs as many communities feel they have been marginalised in the last four years of the Jubilee regime.

Sources within the alliance ranks say a number of religious leaders who feel the country is headed in the wrong direction in the wake of massive corruption in government and have also been roped in.

 “The opposition is expanding and CORD will be part of the expanded opposition. Those focusing on CORD alone are therefore missing the point. The ultimate goal is to present a single candidate against Jubilee. The idea that there will be irreconcilable differences in Opposition and each party will eventually field a candidate is a wish and dream of Jubilee. It will not happen. The Opposition will present a single candidate and CORD will be part of that arrangement,” Raila told The Standard on Saturday.

“We want to create a big tent, allow as many people to join in and agree on logistics and agenda so that we do not end up with another Jubilee regime,” he said yesterday.

Asked about the perception that Jubilee was assured of re-election, Raila said: “I am not aware of that perception. The perception, if it exists, cannot be stronger than the reality that Jubilee has lost virtually every by-election since 2013, including recent MCA seats in Kisii, Kajiado and Turkana. That is the reality we are moving with into 2017. It paints a very clear picture of a party set to lose elections. Those saying Jubilee is poised to win should tell us what they base their conclusion on”.

Sources say part of the opposition strategy is to reach out to influential figures and bring them on board while accommodating them in the political unity.

Expanded line-up

Even as the expanded opposition alliance shapes up, all coalition partners have agreed to rid their outfits of rebels, challenging the individuals to toe the line or bolt out and seek re-election.

With co-principals Kalonzo Musyoka and Moses Wetang’ula on his side, Raila is convinced that they are working on an alliance with more faces from all regions to deliver a coalition equivalent to the one that ended Kanu’s reign in 2002.

The latest entrant in the alliance that is shaping up is Mudavadi of the Amani National Congress (ANC) and who has been championing the National Super Alliance (Nasa) outfit. Sources, however, intimate that the name of the alliance has not been agreed but is not a major source differences.

Yesterday, Siaya Senator James Orengo, a close confidant of Raila, was the one delegated to represent the ODM supremo at the ANC delegates conference and to assure the top decision making organ that CORD would work with ANC in the expanded Opposition.

The Amani delegates meeting endorsed Mudavadi for the party’s ticket in next years elections.

Sources within CORD’s top ranks revealed that higher gears were engaged when the then ODM Secretary General Ababu Namwamba revolted against the party leadership and quit to seek another political vehicle.

Several meetings were held with other leaders, including Funyula MP Paul Otuoma who had at the time showed sympathy with Ababu’s cause and equally threatened to relinquish his position of vice chair of ODM.

As part of the strategy to cure nominations fall out, Raila said a team is working on modalities to advise the CORD leadership over areas of joint nominations as well as giving lee way to parties to present candidates to the new alliance.

On Thursday, Raila sipped tea with Kenya’s ambassador to Tanzania Chirau Ali Mwakwere alongside Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho at a Nairobi eatery. Raila later described the “meeting as one of friends exchanging pleasantries and for catching up”.

Meanwhile, Mudavadi has unveiled the Amani National Congress National Policy which addresses issues related to devolution, governance, the economy and human capital development

“The unveiling of this documents means that ANC is prepared for elections. The policy is clear on intentions to improve the livelihood of Kenyans,” he said at the party headquarters in Nairobi.

Mudavadi said Nasa would take the mantle of power in the 2017 elections and urged the opposition to unite.