For the longest time, Wiper Party leader Kalonzo Musyoka had been chest-thumping that he would not attend the Azimio La Umoja-One Kenya Coalition interview in search of Raila Odinga’s running mate.
Kalonzo made several interviews saying the requirement that he attends the interview was disrespectful to his stature as he had once been a Vice President in this county.
It was only until the last minute that the Wiper boss made a U-turn and attended the interview to qualify as Raila Odinga’s running mate.
Little did we know, that Kalonzo was operating behind the scenes and the last-minute change of heart was only meant to hoodwink Kenyans.
To the media, it was revealed that President Uhuru Kenyatta played a key role in influencing Kalonzo’s change of heart. Apparently, the country’s First in Command made a last-minute phone call to Musyoka which prodded him to face the panel in a bid to avoid divisions in the Azimio camp ahead of the August General Election.
Read: How Uhuru’s Call Influenced Kalonzo’s Change of Heart on Running Mate Interviews
During the call, the Head of State, who doubles up as the Azimio Council Chairperson, reportedly told Musyoka that if he snubbed the panel chances of him being picked to deputize the ODM leader would be minimal.
New details now emerging reveal that Kalonzo had made other plans right from the beginning and President Uhuru’s call was not significant in his decision making.
Sources reveal that Kalonzo had already submitted his presidential bid days ago. Inevitably, Kalonzo submitted the bid just a day before appearing for the running mate interview at Serena Hotel.
The letter forwarding the list of Wiper aspirants dated May 9 was signed by the party’s National Elections Board chairperson Agatha Solitei. His name was thus submitted to the IEBC as a presidential candidate in compliance with the deadline.
“The name of my PL (party leader) as a Wiper presidential nominee was presented to IEBC a long time ago in compliance with the commission’s deadlines,” Kitui Senator Enoch Wambua, a close ally of Kalonzo was quoted by Nation.
Read Also: Confusion As Raila Nominates Kalonzo Chief Cabinet Minister While He Launches Presidential Bid
This has been interpreted as mischief by a section of the political class who have painted Kalonzo as the ‘watermelon’ who does not have a stand in politics and wants to plan on both sides to ensure he gets a seat at the national table.
Notably, Monday 16, 2022 was supposed to be a big day for the Azimio-One Kenya Coalition as they unveiled Raila Odinga’s running mate.
It started very well until Kalonzo announced that he had a press conference at the same time the Azimio event was being held. He was absent at the Raila-led event and held a parallel presser at the Kalonzo Musyoka Command Centre announcing his Presidential bid.
Worse was that Kalonzo announced Raila’s running mate, Martha Karua before the former made the information public.
There was more confusion when Raila named Karua as his deputy and assigned Kalonzo the Chief Cabinet Minister role while the latter was busy announcing his presidential bid and unveiling Andrew Leteipa Sunkuli as his deputy.
Here are some reactions from Twitter:
https://twitter.com/gabrieloguda/status/1526803585471766529
I have known Kalonzo Musyoka since 1993. It will be out of his character if he refuses AZIMIO offer to be our Prime Minister on August 9. He will be the 3rd Prime Minister after Jomo Kenyatta & Raila Odinga. Only a fool will refuse to accept such offer & Kalonzo isn’t a fool.
— Donald B Kipkorir (@DonaldBKipkorir) May 18, 2022
Hon Kalonzo Musyoka is a smart student. He submitted his papers to the IEBC on 9th May 2022. He sensed that azimio had an alternative for a running mate, but for him, he had a running mate already.
— Kawangware Finest ™ (Geoffrey Moturi) (@cbs_ke) May 18, 2022
Prof Kivutha Kibwana says Kalonzo Musyoka is being misled by "three young people" whom he did not name. If a is Mutula Kilonzo Jr and x is Enock Wambua, use the formula an=a+(n−1)× to find the third young person. (20 marks).And the answer is Dan Manzo.
— ojowi (@ojowi_michael) May 18, 2022
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