Peter Kenneth: Uhuru support to Raila is bittersweet

Let’s start with a question that probably many people are asking themselves: Are you the chosen one to be Raila Odinga’s running mate?

You know, the running mate position is not contestable. It is very personal to the candidate. I do not know what is in the candidate’s heart about who he will decide on. It is best left for the candidate to decide.

You have been with him all the time, accompanied him to the UK...

I think I have done many things with him. I even took the Kikuyu Council of Elders to Bondo, I think some three years ago. 

I have been on the campaign trail with him, but so have been many others.

Read: This is the best method to pick Raila’s running mate 

So, if it is not you, who do you think will be the ideal person for that job?

Again, I think it is best for the candidate himself to decide. 

A running mate choice has a few general things that always go with it. 

The chemistry between the running mate and the candidate, somebody who is loyal, somebody who compliments what the candidate works on or wants to be done and somebody who is obedient to the candidate. 

I say that because of the current scenario that we have, which looked ideal, but you see what it turned out to be. 

In fact, it turned out to be a competition. 

I believe there are certain general acceptable norms that the running mate must be a person who willfully complements rather than compete with the candidate.

The running mate should give the candidate an easier time by being helpful. 

Are you going for any elective position?

No, no. I am not. 

Read: Raila, Ruto face running mates dilemma

Wiper’s Kalonzo Musyoka has come into Azimio and he is also eyeing the running mate position. Does this complicate the mathematics for the Mt Kenya region, which has for long been also eyeing this position?

First of all, Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Coalition is open to everyone. 

There is no condition attached to joining it. 

Those who were there when it started, those who came later and those still coming ... there is a unity of purpose at Azimio. 

When Azimio was formed last June, that is what [Mr] Odinga’s statement was all about, bringing the country together as one state, one country. 

For me, it is not a question of who has come and who has not. 

There is space for everybody. There is no doubt that the entry of Kalonzo kind of completes some very good work done by the three governors in Ukambani who have been very steadfast in supporting Azimio. 

Read: Uhuru and Raila unveil Azimio’s power line-up

But it is also important to note that the Mt Kenya region is also vote-rich. 

But as to who will be the running mate, I leave it to the candidate. 

There are many considerations that he will be assessing [when choosing his running mate] including vote-rich counties and regions.

Why Raila and not William Ruto? What do you think of each of the two gentlemen?

First, I think Raila has a history in our country, a history of fighting for liberation, a history of fighting for fairness. 

His records are right as a Kenyan in my view. What I have been able to notice is his easy connection with the common person. 

In fact, just recently, I saw that connection in Navakholo with the crowd. 

In Likuyani, you could see that he was a person who enjoyed good chemistry with the crowd and the masses. They are used to him, they like him. 

He connects with the common person in a way that many people cannot understand.

On Ruto, first, the true colours of the deputy President have really come out through his troubled relationship with President Kenyatta. 

It has come out clearly and I keep on saying that this country requires a person who is not chest-thumping, not arrogant, a person who does not feel entitled or that he is above the rest. That is very important for a country. 

Leadership requires humility even when under stress and you can clearly see the statements from the DP, especially over the past year, really scare a lot of people. 

You can actually see vengeance n his heart. On the other hand, Raila has sacrificed so much for this country. 

He has not been given an opportunity.

As you know, in some elections there have been contests and it was not clear whether he has won or not like in 2007. 

The 2017 outcome was nullified and I think he has something to offer the country. 

I am very pleased with his social protection programme. 

That will go a long way in alleviating poverty for many vulnerable Kenyans in terms of cash transfers that will help the poorest of the poor in our country. 

Listening to his plans of uplifting the country, region by region, it is very clear that he will be able to do it. 

I saw him as a Prime Minister, I saw him conduct his round table meetings. 

I travelled with him when he was the Prime Minister and I, therefore, know he is capable of turning this country into a prosperous one given the opportunity. 

I also feel that, of all the candidates who have offered themselves for the presidency, he is the right candidate to hit the reset button for the country on a lot of things that bedevil us so that we can move forward as a country. 

What do you think of President Uhuru Kenyatta’s support for Raila? Is it an asset or a liability? How and why?

In most circumstances, it cuts both ways. I mean, in the US, the candidate Al Gore said ‘I do not need Bill Clinton’s support’ and he went on to lose. 

The current President needed the support of President Obama and it worked. It cuts both ways. 

But in our current scenario, it is he who wears the shoes that feel the pinch. 

I think, although we have heard a few reasons, the President himself, in his own wisdom and the intelligence that he is entitled to, must have felt uncomfortable dealing with his deputy or leaving this country in the hands of his own deputy. 

A couple of years ago, maybe three, we did a press conference and I said, ‘Please, do not think that President Uhuru Kenyatta will be a lame-duck president’ and I think this has come to pass. 

I also think, imagine and believe, that the President has a critical constituency that believes in him and will support him and he, therefore, brings a lot of value to the candidature of Raila Odinga. 

No doubt, you also have people who do not like you, in the same way, there will be those who do not like Raila Odinga and may not vote for him but the majority or the overwhelming number are with Uhuru and he has done very well to build the country’s infrastructure. 

When you tour the country, you find all kinds of infrastructure projects which are meant to spark economic growth.

With the President now supporting Raila, it means the ODM leader now has to shoulder some of his administration’s baggage...

One thing I believe is that the President is a Kenyan just like you and me. 

He has a right to have an opinion and is entitled to vote. 

I think the issue is, does the president still have influence? I say yes, he still does, especially in his base where he derived the biggest support.

There are real concerns that he has lost his base to the DP...

I think there is an assumption, that because he let his DP have a free hand, it was assumed that he had lost his base. 

I come from one of those areas assumed to be his bases and I can assure you that most mature people who understand what the President is saying really support him. 

I am sure that when the results will be announced, people will understand what the President and some of us have been saying. 

People who do not understand what the President is doing are falling for what the DP is saying. But people who are mature enough to understand our politics will know. 

The last by-election was in Kiambaa, both candidates were at almost equal strength. So you cannot say the President has lost his base. He did not personally go there to campaign but his candidate still got 50 per cent in a localised situation. 

He has still not come out to his base. 

Remember, this base has been having one horse running. 

Now, they are seeing there has emerged another very strong horse, so people are still weighing the two and in my view, I think Raila Odinga will do much better with the support of Uhuru Kenyatta in the region than he has ever done in all the other elections he has contested in. 

What will it take to change the people in Mt Kenya to support Raila?

My view is that the trajectory has Raila coming up and Ruto coming down. That is the trajectory day by day.

As yet, you have no role in Azimio but there have been claims that you could be financing Azimio. Could you speak about this?

As I said, Azimio is a house for everybody, open to everybody. You saw me doing the Jubilee activations in Murang’a, in all the seven constituencies. I was part of the activities. 

For me, as of now, we all know we have an Azimio candidate and our role is to ensure that the candidate bags the maximum votes for the presidency.

Does that role possible carry the financial support from you to Azimio?

No, no, no. Azimio is very well organised. It has been able to organise all its events and our part was to just come and be part of creating the new history that Kenya deserves of having Raila Odinga as the President.

Within Azimio there seems to be a reversal of positions in so far as zoning goes. Don’t you think this will cost you seats when there is a lot of intra-coalition competition for the same seats? 

There are areas where there will be competition. This has always been there since we went to multi-parties anyway, where even candidates would leave parties and run independently. But I think the most important thing for Azimio is to have a clear majority in both houses and therefore, the negotiated democracy that is going on will only help Azimio parties where the majority are. 

Yes, there are areas where I think that could happen but there are talks ongoing to avoid that competition.

Let’s take a step back to 2013, what made you run for president?

I believed and I still believe that I had something to offer the country and that we could have changed course for the country in many areas. In healthcare, job creation, food security, and a lot of industrialisation. 

I ran and produced a manifesto I believed in. I now have hopes that Raila Amolo will help in taking the country forward. 

With the benefit of hindsight, was it a wise move?

It was. We brought freshness to the campaign and fresh ideas. It was the first presidential contest that we had the presidential debate and people heard our views. 

It opened the country to the diversity of ideas, and opinion shapers and from there, many people have come up to share their ideas. In hindsight, it was a good decision.

Some people saw you as a spoiler for then TNA candidate Uhuru Kenyatta. Was there an attempt to have you abandon the run? If so, from which source(s) did those attempts come?

There really can be no spoilers in Kenya when there are divergent views on how to shape Kenya. For me, the idea was to come to Kenyans and tell them I have something to offer and give my ideas and leave them to decide and that is democracy. There was no such thing (as being approached). 

There were discussions though, on how we could work together at the time but that did not happen.

What lessons did you learn from the 2013 run?

At the end of the day, and especially in the last month, we kind of shelved good ideas and looked at interests and I think that is what ended up happening — all about interests and shelving of ideas. But what I would like to say is that we are all Kenyans, we are all free to share our ideas and we should be free to contest when one has an ambition. 

Beyond your candidature in 2013, your son became a sensation. How did you deal with this situation as a family?

I have heard this all the time. 

But you know, people forget that he only came out once during the launch of my presidential candidature and he actually sacrificed and flew from the university in the UK to come and say something and then he went back. 

He is a very private young man just like we are as a family. 

So, once he gave his speech, which was sensational to the age group of his people and I think this was the first time that a young person had been introduced at the centre stage of a campaign and I think that is why it became a sensation. 

Well, he went back to the university. He was back for his studies when the talk was going on.

Next:Peter Kenneth talks of the game plan to ensure Raila Odinga wins first round, answers to graft allegations over Kenya Re and football