Mudavadi made a mistake, former running mate Jeremiah Kioni says

Ndaragwa MP Jeremiah Kioni during a National Assembly special sitting. [David Njaaga, Standard]

Ndaragwa Member of Parliament Jeremiah Kioni holds that Musalia Mudavadi’s chances of clinching the presidency in subsequent elections are now slimmer, following his surprise pact with Deputy President William Ruto on Sunday.

Kioni, who spoke in an interview on TV 47 Wednesday morning, said Ruto is only playing warm-up to Mudavadi.

“I am not saying that Musalia’s goose is cooked forever, but he has been set back,” Kioni said.

The lawmaker, who was Mudavadi’s running-mate in the 2013 General Election, said he (Mudavadi) ought to be more cautious in his dealings with the DP.

“We were very measured on what we were releasing out back then. We were cautious and very careful, but he now seems to have lost that trait,” he said.

Terming Ruto as a “crafty politician”, Kioni said the DP is being very calculated, and is only now planning post a “Raila presidency”, which puts the Amani National Congress (ANC) leader on the back-end over his decision to join hands with him.

"I want to tell Musalia that his chances were best behind Raila Odinga. He is a president this country would have wanted to have one day but he is now beginning to lose that opportunity.”

In a much anticipated political “earthquake” on Sunday, Mudavadi publicly embraced DP William Ruto, a move that will likely shake up current political alignments.

The ANC leader pointed out that Azimio la Umoja, or rather ODM leader Raila Odinga, would not be part of his political journey going forward.

Mudavadi’s own One Kenya Alliance (OKA) was ironically the first victim of the so-called earthquake – thanks to internal rifts leading to the walkout of co-principals, Wiper and Kanu party leaders, Kalonzo Musyoka and Gideon Moi, as well as Jimi Wanjigi, the ODM presidential hopeful, from ANC’s National Delegates Conference at the Bomas of Kenya, Nairobi.