The talks on Tuesday had Jubilee Party National Chairman Torome Saitoti, a former Principal Secretary in the Uhuru administration, instead of Jubilee Secretary-General Jeremiah Kioni who has been part of the consultations in past meetings.
Sources at the meeting confided in the Nation that Mr Musyoka’s camp had raised concerns over Mr Kioni’s position that Mr Kenyatta and the Jubilee Party have endorsed the presidential bid of Dr Matiang’i, who attended his first public meeting with the opposition team yesterday at Nairobi’s Karen Blixen.
The meeting, however, signalled the closing of ranks between Mr Kenyatta and former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua after it emerged as former Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i met with Mr Gachagua for the second time in four days.
Mr Gachagua said: “This was a meeting of a team to liberate Kenya ... it gets bigger every day, welcome, Dr Matiang’i ... You are on the right side of history.”
Mr Gachagua, Mr Musyoka, Mr Saitoti, People’s Liberation Party chief Martha Karua , DAP-Kenya’s Eugene Wamalwa, former ministers Justin Muturi and Mithika Linturi and former United Nations Conference on Trade and Development Secretary-General Mukhisa Kituyi attended yesterday’s strategy meeting.
“Yes, the meeting was fruitful. The SKM (Kalonzo) team had earlier raised concerns about Jubilee sending Kioni. The feeling is that Kioni had taken a position that Matiang’i must be the flag bearer. So Uhuru had to dispatch Torome Saitoti,” a source at the meeting told the Nation.
Former CS Mithika Linturi: Kenyans are done with President Ruto
He went on: “There is likely to be a general agreement to back Matiang’i, but the fear is that Kalonzo might not subscribe to that. He feels he is the senior-most leader to fly the opposition coalition’s flag. We are also not sure about Gachagua’s position because he is yet to pronounce himself openly, but he cannot contest unless cleared by the courts.”
The meeting reportedly agreed on the formation of a 2002 Narc-like coalition, with individual party leaders first declaring their presidential interests to mobilise support in their regions before the nomination of a flag bearer later next year.
The issue of the young voters was also tackled, with the team proposing to bring in youthful leaders.
Top leaders meet in Nairobi to shape opposition ahead of 2027
Photo credit: Pool
While Mr Musyoka’s camp favours consensus as the best approach to arrive at the opposition’s flag bearer, some members reportedly proposed a delegates process, where member parties are allocated a specific number depending on their strength.
“We are still broadening the opposition and are still expecting more people to join, so for now we still don’t have a preferred candidate. For Kioni, they are at liberty to alternate with party chairman Torome Saitoti and so there is no cause for alarm,” Mr Wamalwa said. He added that they were on a mission to assemble a team that will form the next government.
“As President Ruto is broadening his government, we are also broadening the opposition to make him a one-term president,” said Mr Wamalwa.
Makueni Senator Dan Maanzo, Mr Musyoka’s ally, questioned Mr Kioni’s rush to back Dr Matiang’i when opposition chiefs have agreed on consensus to pick the flag bearer. He added: “If Uhuru was unable to make Raila (Odinga) who was a more popular candidate in the last election, how will he make Matiang’i president when he is now retired?”
Kitui Senator Enoch Wambua, also an ally of Mr Musyoka, said the meeting carries great political significance.
“It is the clearest signal that President William Ruto will make history as Kenya’s first one-term President. I have said it before and I dare repeat it today; the coming together of leaders allied to the suffering Kenyan masses is not about making any single one of them the next President of our great republic. Not at all. It is about saving Kenya and Kenyans from Ruto,” said Mr Wambua.
Kitui Senator Enoch Wambua.
Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group
“I am a very happy leader because when I looked right into the eyes of each one of those leaders and spoke to each one of them in the morning before their meeting, it was clear that they understand their mission to save our motherland,” he added.
Similar views were shared by Machakos Deputy Governor Francis Mwangangi, who warned the opposition figures against going separate ways as a result of their competing interests.
“In the past, we have learnt that those in power have always used State machinery to divide the opposition to their advantage. The opposition leaders must understand that there is power in unity,” said Mr Mwangangi.
But former Kanu Secretary-General Nick Salat.
Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group
“These are the same old faces, the usual suspects who have been part of successive regimes and cannot offer anything new. I saw they released a statement on extra-judicial killings, they ought to have explained to Kenyans why Matiang’i, who was in charge of the Interior ministry when the River Yala killings happened, did not sign the statement,” said Mr Salat.
He was referring to a joint statement signed by Ms Karua, Mr Musyoka, Mr Gachagua, Mr Muturi, Mr Wamalwa, Mr Linturi and Mr Saitoti, in which they condemned the brutal killing of five individuals during a violent clash in Kilgoris.
They also sounded a warning to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) selection panel
“We are gravely concerned that so far the management of the recruitment process has not met the highest standards for credible elections. We hope that in the remaining phase, that the selection panel will put the national interest ahead of partisan considerations. Even at this late hour the selection panel can vindicate itself by giving a comprehensive exit report and nomination of credible Kenyans as chairperson and commissioners of IEBC,” the leaders said in the statement.
The statement was not signed by Dr Matiang’i and Mr Kituyi. Mr Muturi explained that the two “had other meetings to attend, but knew the content of the statement and gave their blessings”.
Political analyst Prof Gitile Naituli of the Multimedia University of Kenya stated that opposition unity was good for the country.
“This shows opposition is putting Kenya first and willing to work together to restore the country to the right path by sacrificing their ambitions for the sake of the country,” he said.
Political scientist John Okumu described the meeting as “the start of the walk through the anti-Ruto alliance minefield”.
“If this talent-laden and fabulously rich alliance that is coming up will overcome competing interests, ambitions, diverse outlooks and manage a sulking national voting bloc, then the ‘Must Go vs Kumi Bila Break’ duel will be of historical proportions.”
Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology don Charles Mwangi said: “Dr Matiang’i’s presence in the Gachagua meeting gives the political landscape one of the clearer signals that Mr Kenyatta has finally decided to get involved in the anti-Ruto re-election bid ... and it is not a nice happening for the incumbent.”
Reporting by Justus Ochieng, Mwangi Muiruri and Moses Nyamori.
