OKA principals seal coalition deal ahead of August 9 polls

OKA, Kalonzo Musyoka

From left: One Kenya Alliance principals Cyrus Jirongo (UDP), Kalonzo Musyoka (Wiper), Martha Karua (Narc-Kenya) and Gideon Moi (Kanu) after the signing of the Deed of Assignments at the SKM Command Centre in Karen, Nairobi on February 2, 2022.

Photo credit: Lucy Wanjiru | Nation Media Group

One Kenya Alliance (OKA) principals have formally signed an agreement to work together.

The agreement dubbed the Deed of Assignment formally incorporates all the constituent political parties in the alliance, giving them an opportunity to engage with like-minded partners for broader coalition building ahead of the August 9 General Election.

The principals; Kalonzo Musyoka (Wiper), Gideon Moi (Kanu), Cyrus Jirongo (UDP) and Martha Karua (Narc-Kenya) inked the agreement at a ceremony witnessed by their various party officials and members at the Stephen Kalonzo Musyoka (SKM) Command Centre in Karen, Nairobi, on Wednesday.

The team also announced completion of the alliance’s coalition agreement that will be deposited with the Registrar of Political Parties as OKA Coalition on February 28.

“The agreement details the nature and extent of our political engagement and cooperation as partners,” Mr Moi said.

Coalition

He said the coalition “will officially and publicly unveil the One Kenya Alliance Coalition and demonstrate how our vision will fundamentally transform Kenya.”

“As a build up towards the official unveiling, we have lined up a series of public engagement activities to be hosted by our constituent political parties and partners in various parts of the country,” the Kanu chairman who read the statement on behalf of the other principals said.

The team appeared to rule out any possibility of working with Kenya Kwanza Alliance (KKA) which includes Deputy President William Ruto and its estranged partners Musalia Mudavadi (ANC) and Moses Wetang’ula (Ford Kenya).

Mr Musyoka said: “Is Kenya Kwanza a coalition? We only know of Kenya Kwisha.”

Mr Moi reiterated that as an alliance governed by values and principles of equality, equity, sustainable development, empowered citizens and zero tolerance to corruption, they will only remain open to “honest engagements with other political formations that share in our ideology.”

“This shall involve structured and open negotiations which must include resolution of the country’s crippling debt portfolio and discussion on exploration of our natural resources to address the debt and create employment for our largely unemployed youths amongst other important issues,” he said.

Businessman Jimi Wanjigi, who has in the past weeks attended joint rallies with the team, was however, conspicuously missing from the event.

Mr Musyoka pointed out that he was a member of the Raila Odinga-led ODM party.

“So he is not on the table until they resolve their issues in ODM,” Mr Musyoka said.