RAILA AND KALONZO STRIKE A NEW DEAL

Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party leader Raila Odinga and his Wiper counterpart Kalonzo Musyoka’s camps are secretly hatching a scheme to unveil a mega coalition that will challenge Deputy President William Ruto’s Kenya Kwanza Alliance at the August general elections.

As it stands, Odinga is the recognized flag-bearer of the Azimio la Umoja political outfit while Kalonzo has been the prominent figure of the One Kenya Alliance (OKA), even more so following the exit of Amani National Congress (ANC) leader Musalia Mudavadi and Ford-Kenya boss Moses Wetangula, who in January partnered with DP Ruto.

With the polls predicted to be a two-horse race between Odinga and DP Ruto, many believe that OKA will join the Azimio camp, but the coalition’s principals have largely remained mum on what their next political move will be.

A new report by the Nation newspaper published on Thursday however states that a committee, comprising of Odinga and Musyoka’s representatives, is currently hashing out the aforementioned coalition deal.

“The two leaders are talking to each other directly but also have a very lean team of trusted allies who are spearheading the negotiations,” a source from Musyoka’s inner circle told the daily.

“In fact, the talks have been accelerated with the exit of Mudavadi and Wetangula.” 

According to the source, the talks are being led by Ngovi Kitau, Kenya’s Ambassador to Korea, and city lawyer Paul Mwangi, who are close allies of the Wiper boss and the former premier respectively.

“We’ve had some meetings but no deal yet. That’s all for now,” Kitau told the Nation when asked about the ongoing talks.

Mwangi also dismissed the coalition reports labelling them as false. Odinga’s campaign board CEO Elizabeth Meyo however neither denied nor acknowledged the speculation, citing that Odinga was reaching out to all Kenyans to join his Azimio la Umoja movement.

“We, therefore, cannot comment on which specific Kenyans he is engaging with, as this will become clearer as we move along,” Meyo said.

Courtesy