Amason Kingi’s PAA party leaves Azimio for Kenya Kwanza
Kilifi Governor Amason Kingi addresses Paa party youth leaders at Bofa Estate in Kilifi Town on November 24.
The Pamoja African Alliance (PAA) party associated with Kilifi Governor Amason Kingi has bolted out of the Azimio la Umoja One Kenya alliance to join Deputy President William Ruto’s Kenya Kwanza Alliance.
Dr Ruto, in a tweet on Monday evening, welcomed Governor Kingi to Kenyan Kwanza, just hours after Machakos Governor Alfred Mutua’s Maendeleo Chap Chap left the Raila Odinga-led coalition.
“Karibu Governor Amason Kingi and PAA party to the alliance of democrats, the free & the willing. Together we stand against strong arm machinations by the oppressors and political racketeers who've exploited us for long. Welcome to the grand march to new possibilities for all Kenyans,” Dr Ruto said in the tweet.
Party spokesman Lucas Maitha told Nation.Africa that PAA was dissatisfied about zoning in Azimio and that it was kept in the dark over the agreement it had signed with Azimio La Umoja-One Kenya Coalition.
“We have agreed on this matter with our party leader. We expected Governor Kingi to be included at the decision-making table for us to know that we were safe but he was sidelined,” he said.
“We were in Azimio by choice, but we realised that there were hidden plans to demean smaller political parties by the way it was structured. We learned that it was about the Orange Democratic Movement, Jubilee, and to some lesser extent, the Wiper party,” Mr Maitha said.
Exit coalition
The official said that the Azimio la Umoja coalition was not inclusive of their ideologies and it was only a matter of when and not if they would exit the coalition.
“Kenya Kwanza told us: ‘if you have moved out from Azimio la Umoja and are frustrated, why don’t we discuss?’. We did exactly that and they assured us that they were ready to incorporate our demands in the future government,” said Mr Maitha.
He accused Jubilee, ODM and Wiper of bulldozing its way against other parties in the coalition.
“We are not in Azimio la Umoja anymore. We wish them well, and we know that Mr Odinga meant well. But there is a lot of confusion in the coalition today. Nobody knows who is calling the shots in Azimio la Umoja. I can even predict that even if they win, that government would be problematic because there is backstabbing. Jubilee wants to be powerful as it exists, ODM wants to come in because they feel the president is theirs, and Wiper feels they cannot be ignored, while we and others are just bystanders. Not fair,” said Mr Maitha.
The constant calls by Mr Odinga regarding zoning was an eye opener to PAA’s leadership, said Mr Maitha.
“We were in Azimio by choice, but we realised that there were hidden plans to demean smaller political parties by the way it was structured. We learned that it was about ODM, Jubilee, and to some lesser extent, the Wiper party,” Mr Maitha said.
