Team embarks on picking man who will take on President Uhuru in polls

The team resolved that the structure must ensure that two of the four candidates who will not be Presidential candidate and or running-mate are allocated befitting slots in the NASA government PHOTO: COURTESY

Details have emerged of how CORD leaders Raila Odinga, Moses Wetang'ula and Kalonzo Musyoka had to be persuaded to embrace National Super Alliance (NASA) as the umbrella body for the Opposition coalition.

Sources said Amani National Congress (ANC) leader Musalia Mudavadi went to great lengths to explain how and why he reserved NASA.

Mr Mudavadi reportedly explained that all he did was to reserve the name and that NASA has no officials.

He claimed that he did so because Jubilee was planning to hijack and register it.

Mudavadi gave the assurance at a meeting the four held at Cold Springs in Karen, a day to their public commitment to NASA.

A source familiar with the intrigues that happened before the four announced the National Coordinating Committee (NCC) disclosed that Mr Raila, Mr Kalonzo and Mr Wetang'ula wanted an assurance of their stake in NASA.

 "The Principals wanted first to look at the modalities under which they will have a stake in NASA lest it be taken away once they have folded CORD. They had to be assured first," the source said. In the end they agreed to make a formal announcement the next day to unveil the road map to a joint Opposition ticket.

But still there was no agreement that the name would be NASA.

On the day of the final announcement at Serena, the leaders met again and agreed to use NASA pending reviews. They felt that the public had accepted that the joint Opposition party would be called NASA and anything to the contrary would cause unnecessary confusion.

Some leaders had expressed fears that NASA was a property of Mudavadi and were concerned about being lured into an outfit that could give the ANC leader leverage over others or lock the rest out completely.

The Standard has also learnt that the 12–member NCC's first meeting took place at Siaya Senator James Orengo's Lonrho House.

According to a source who attended the meeting, the team agreed to fast-track the modality of picking the Presidential candidate given that the electoral timelines for the submission of nominees is fast approaching.

At the centre of discussion was setting up an organisational structure that will encompass the four principals with the aim of capturing power.

The team resolved that the structure must ensure that two of the four candidates who will not be Presidential candidate and or running-mate are allocated befitting slots in the NASA government.

The leaders are working within the confines of the Terms of Reference (TOR) spelt out by the four principals.

"The signed tenets of the TOR will guide our work. We have started the deliberations and its work in progress. We are determined to do a job that will enable the Opposition deliver the presidency in August," said a member who sought anonymity.

He continued: "Some of the issues we are working on is the selection model of the presidential candidate, the organisation structure, manifesto, the procedure of conducting joint nominations and the unity of the principals."

Though Wednesday night's meeting was the first of its kind among the MPs, they remained tight-lipped, confessing secrecy of their dealings.

However, upon further prodding, The Standard learnt that they are in an awkward position as they are tasked with preventing a fallout once a candidate is found.

"It's about Kenya and winning. The technical committee is also at work. We are working...to name the candidate by May, we will work backward," said another member. He continued: "Our strategy is not to give our rivals the opportunity to incite and catalyst, the presidential candidate will be known at the right time. We want to be as discreet as possible," he said.

However, the team is under strict instructions and has a gag order not to divulge or disclose any information to the public before the principals are informed and they ratify the decision.

"We have deliverables. Our activities will be done in series while others will run parallel. The principals will then ratify and announce to Kenyans every output solidified. They are at the apex," said another member.

He added: "We have the coordinating national committee, the secretariat and the counties to think about. We will also have a benchmark of past initiatives like Okoa Kenya."

The Standard also established that the team is working under strict rules that prevent them from commenting or sharing the on goings with the public until they get the final product.