Kalonzo: I’ve done enough for Raila, it's his turn to back me
Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka at the Jaramogi Odinga Foundation, Nairobi, on November 24, 2022.
Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka on Thursday indicated that he would not back down again in the 2027 presidential contest, suggesting that he had done enough to support ODM leader Raila Odinga and was now ready to put up a strong fight to dislodge President William Ruto from power.
Mr Musyoka, whose close confidants had earlier set the tempo for his 2027 bid, said that having supported Mr Odinga three times – in 2013, 2017 and 2022 – he is now ripe for the country’s top seat and the ODM leader is under obligation to endorse his bid.
The Wiper leader, who before the 2022 election said he’d be a “fool to support Mr Odinga for the third time without reciprocity,” later agreed to endorse the Azimio la Umoja One Kenya coalition chief even after the former Prime Minister named Narc Kenya leader Martha Karua as his running mate, a position Mr Musyoka held in 2013 and 2017.
In an interview with NTV’s Zainab Ismail on Wednesday, Mr Musyoka said he was now wiser. “The fool in me ended up supporting Raila for the third time, but that fool is wiser now than he was then,” he said. “I’m no fool. It took some painful introspection and I brought it out before I supported my friend Raila.”
He recalled how he reminded Mr Odinga about his 2017 promise to back his bid in 2022, but went ahead to support his candidature again for the third time.
“I showed him in black and white what we had agreed in writing. So I brought it out of my chest and from that time I said I would support Raila and it was, therefore, the right thing to do.
“Therefore, I’m no fool and I’ll never be. I’ve been dragged through mud many times, and given some bad names, but I’m still here and love this country. I only wish Kenyans peace but also justice because you cannot have a peaceful country when there is no justice,” he said.
Azimio 2027 candidate
Mr Musyoka’s allies, including Kitui senator Enoch Wambua and his Makueni counterpart Dan Maanzo, on Monday told the Nation that it was now time for Mr Odinga to reciprocate the Wiper leader’s support by anointing him as the Azimio coalition’s 2027 presidential candidate.
Azimio la Umoja leaders Kalonzo Musyoka (left) and Raila Odinga at the funeral of Mama Philomena Mutelwa Barasa, the mother of Kakamega Governor Fernandes Barasa, in Mumias East, Kakamega County.
“My appeal to the Azimio fraternity is that we have a duty of care to this nation, to provide oversight, constructive opposition to the government and prepare to take over leadership of this nation in the next election, God willing. For that to happen, we must do what Ruto did. We must begin our campaigns yesterday,” said Mr Wambua.
Mr Maanzo said it is only fair for the opposition to choose Mr Musyoka to face off with President William Ruto in 2027. “I support the idea that Raila pronounces himself on the Azimio 2027 candidate for the very simple reason that you cannot do something the same way and expect different results,” he said. “We have stood three times now with Hon Raila Odinga and it is time for Hon Raila to stand with us so that the opposition remains united.”
Yesterday, Mr Musyoka defended their sentiments, saying they were entitled to their opinions, even as he took credit for delivering votes from his Lower Eastern backyard to Mr Odinga in the last presidential election.
“Waswahili wanasema subira huvuta heri (The Swahili say good things come to those who wait) and God’s timing is the best. The leaders are entitled to their views. I’m not the kind of person who tells people ‘don’t open your mouth.’ But we have not yet sat as a party. We will call a National Executive Council meeting, look at all those issues and develop a consensus,” he said.
Mr Musyoka, who made his first stab in 2007, was, however, categorical that he will mount a campaign like no other in 2027 if given the mandate. “What is obvious is that in the event I’m around, God willing, and my party nominates me to run, I will run like never before,” he affirmed.
Mr Musyoka made his first stab at the top seat in 2007 on an Orange Democratic Movement – Kenya (ODM-K) ticket, emerging third after former president Mwai Kibaki of Party of National Unity (PNU) and Mr Odinga of ODM.
He managed 879,903 votes (8.91 per cent) against Mr Odinga’s 4,352,993 (44.07 per cent) and Mr Kibaki’s 4,584,721 (46.42 per cent), in the election that was widely disputed leading to the worst ever post-election violence in the country.
Mr Musyoka would later be named vice president after he led his party to the government side.
2022 review
Yesterday, he said he intends to convene a meeting of the Wiper party’s NEC and “do a review of what happened in 2022 and give ourselves a program of action.”
“We will be consulting with Kenyans again within Azimio la Umoja one Kenya. What we started in Kamukunji was not an end in itself,” he said.
Former President Uhuru Kenyatta with Azimio la Umoja leader Raila Odinga during the coalition's National Delegates Conference at Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) in Nairobi City County.
The former vice president hinted that members of the Azimio council including former President Uhuru Kenyatta, Mr Odinga, Ms Karua. Kanu Chairman Gideon Moi and himself will have a say on the best way forward for the coalition.
“I can tell you, the supreme council of Raila Odinga, Martha Karua, Kalonzo Musyoka, Uhuru Kenyatta, Gideon Moi, we are still talking and nothing is out of hand,” Mr Musyoka said.
The Wiper leader also seized the opportunity to hit out at President Ruto’s administration, accusing it of perpetuating state capture, by “compromising judiciary, legislature and other independent institutions such as the office of the DPP to drop corruption cases against senior government officials.”
“Azimio is still strong that’s why there is stability in the national assembly. Some of those who left are regretting. We are going to form a credible strong opposition to UDA but they should stop the habit of wanting to grab a leader here, bribe another there.”
He also faulted Dr Ruto’s administration for scheming to have a new set of IEBC commissioners who are user-friendly for the sake of influencing the outcome of the 2027 elections.
“We will not allow that,” he warned.
The Wiper leader while revisiting the outcome of the last election, reiterated that the results were not a reflection of the expectations of the majority of Kenyans even as he defended former president Kenyatta’s role in the polls, saying that “he balanced it well by indicating his preference of Mr Odinga but he didn’t put it down the throats of Kenyans.”
“When the win was announced it was almost a disaster. Apart from Eldoret which is understood, Kapsabet, Nyeri and a few parts of the country, the rest of the country was in mourning,” he said.
Electoral reforms
Mr Musyoka called for electoral reforms to ensure a fair playing field in the coming election, insisting that the past elections apart from 2002 were all compromised.
“Parliament should revisit the law relating to the general conduct of elections in Kenya. I’d want us to go back to manual voting. This electronic voting has brought, pain, suffering, mourning and misrule,” he said.
He pointed out that as regards the 2022 presidential election, “history will lay bare the fact of what happened with regard to the procedure of announcement of results at the Bomas of Kenya and culminating into what happened at the supreme court.”
“I hold the view that in 2013, 2017 and 2022, we did not lose elections. We must get rid of this culture of stolen elections and one of my recommendations is that parliament should review the whole thing on the conduct of elections.”
“We should go back to what we did in 2002 which was the most successful election. There was no electronic voting. This electronic voting is prone to bribery and people are paying these firms billions of shillings to be made presidents,” he said.
He accused Smartmatic firms which supplied IEBC with the Kenya Integrated Elections Management System (KIEMS) kits, of having been compromised to influence the outcome of the election.
The Wiper leader said he will continue working from the opposition side, adding that he has no business joining the government but will keep it in check.
Asked whether he would work with Kenya kwanza given the circumstances he said;
“I don’t believe in absolutes. No. I don’t want to follow that. I don’t think it’s even worth pursuing. This is the time to cooperate and have a functioning opposition, cross-check those doing state capture and stop the habit.”
He went on: “This country is hurting and so the issue is not whether its Kalonzo or Raila leading the opposition but our people are suffering and we must find a solution to their plight.”
Mr Musyoka also defended subsidies on various basic commodities put forth by former president Kenyatta, noting that it was positive as it sought to temporarily address the tough economic times.
“I agree you cannot run a nation on the basis of subsidies but you must also listen to the ground. When his predecessor put subsidies on fuel, education, and electricity was because he was listening and the people who were suffering.”
“It was the wrong time to remove the subsidies. But Ruto was forced by the international institutions. The Bretton woods and because of my experience of dealing with the world leaders, if you don’t hold dear the sovereignty of your nation, you end up with your people suffering,” he cautioned.
