Boni Khalwale's claim throws Nasa into deeper turmoil

Ford Kenya deputy party leader Boni Khalwale (left) and ANC leader Musalia Mudavadi converse after a press conference at Okoa Kenya offices in Nairobi on October 27, 2017. Dr Khalwale has dismissed the "swearing-in" of Raila Odinga. PHOTO | ANTHONY OMUYA | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Dr Khalwale said former Nigerian president Olesegun Obasanjo had asked the coalition to discard the oath plan.
  • The convergence of ideas comes at a time when each party appears to have decided to show its true colours.

The Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) deputy party leader Wycliffe Oparanya on Thursday said the National Super Alliance was as good as dead, throwing the coalition into a deeper political turmoil.

Mr Oparanya, the Kakamega Governor who together with his Mombasa counterpart serve as Mr Raila Odinga’s deputies in the Orange party, said the coalition had outlived its usefulness.

“Parties come together to ascend to power. We did not get to that. And now, when we get to 2022, we will look at other parties that were not with us in 2017, because we must look for an alliance to help us win.

"Let us all fend for ourselves — each for his own. This thing of hanging on people’s backs and talking about 2022 endlessly must end,” he said in Kakamega.

RAILA OATH
Mr Odinga has been under intense pressure to state his position on whether or not he will run in 2022 and if ODM will honour a 2017 pact that bars him from running for the presidency.

Mr Oparanya was reacting to remarks by Ford Kenya deputy party leader Boni Khalwale who jolted Nasa over the events of January 30, terming the ‘oath’ that Mr Odinga took at Uhuru Park in Nairobi a “non-issue”.

He went ahead to criticise Mr Odinga for going ahead with the oath even after agreeing not to do so.

Dr Khalwale said former Nigerian president Olesegun Obasanjo had asked the coalition to discard the oath plan — a recommendation he said Nasa had agreed with.

2022 ELECTION
Mr Odinga took the “oath” as the people’s president in the absence of his co-principals Kalonzo Musyoka, Musalia Mudavadi and Moses Wetang’ula.

“There was no swearing-in, if there were, you would have seen a judge in accordance with the law, various protocols that accompany that function, people invited locally and internationally as guests and members of our families.

"It was something that occurred on the spur of the moment. It is a non-issue,” he told Citizen TV on Wednesday.

CONFLICT

The convergence of ideas — on the impossibility of a 2022 pact at a time that the three principals have intensified calls for Mr Odinga to commit to backing one of them in the next polls — comes at a time when each party appears to have decided to show its true colours.

“Nasa coalition is a union of willing political partners,” Kitui Senator Enoch Wambua, a close ally of Mr Musyoka, said.

“It is not an axis of political protagonists. We must tolerate each other, or terminate the union if we cannot.”

That the ‘oath’ was going to alter the landscape of the opposition politics became evident on the very day Mr Musyoka, Mr Mudavadi, and Mr Wetang’ula missed the event, with an explanation which, until today, has not been accepted by all the parties.

While the trio have said their absence was part of a strategy, Mr Odinga failed to own the explanation and instead started a push for a third election in August, which Mr Mudavadi immediately dismissed as a “bad strategy”.

ABSENCE

Edwin Sifuna, ODM secretary-general, who on Wednesday rocked the Nasa boat when he asked the other affiliates to respect ODM “for being the biggest” and support its electoral reforms agenda, was on Thursday on the same trajectory, accusing Dr Khalwale and the Nasa affiliates of misrepresenting the events of January 30. 

“They have brought 101 stories on why they did not show up for the swearing-in.

"They say they were locked up in a room and that the security was withdrawn and that there was an agreement not to go on with the plan and that the TV stations were shut,” Mr Sifuna said. 

“They should pick one story and stick to it. We are asking them: Stop and clarify which of the 100 stories you have said we should believe?” he said and threatened to “expose the truth” on why the trio missed the event.

“This swearing-in was hurriedly done. We had agreed to mobilise many county assemblies to pass the motion, have a national convention, discuss serious issues and, after that, hold the swearing-in as the ultimate event,” Wiper deputy secretary-general Peter Mathuki said.

PROTOCOL
He added: “Our position was let us hold on, what is the hurry for? Yes, we need these reforms, but they are only possible if you involve all stakeholders.

"Now, the issue of hurrying, and then so what? You killed a whole dream!” Mr Mathuki, who termed the event as lacking “intrinsic value”, said.

ANC secretary-general Barrack Muluka said the three principals were kept in the dark about the details of the ceremony.

“Among other things, the principals had not seen the text of the oath. Nor did they know who was going to administer it. They also had no idea about the protocols for the day, the speeches, and a galore of related issues,” Mr Muluka wrote in an opinion column.

Additional reporting Shaban Makokha