President Uhuru Kenyatta led Jubilee Party has a devised a two-strategy approach to drive a wedge between NASA chief Raila Odinga and his co-principals by March next year.
The ruling coalition hopes to isolate Raila from his co-principals through government appointments and divide-and-rule approach.
According to Daily Nation, Jubilee is charming NASA co-principals Musalia Mudavadi and Kalonzo Musyoka to joining the camp with their inclusion in government.
This is also happening for top notch ODM personalities.
Mudavadi has affirmed Jubilee is trying to reach out to him. “Some leaders in Jubilee are pleading with me to abandon the reform train.”
“(They are saying) that I should calm down; let them get on the gravy train.They don’t know what steel I am made of,” he said in a statement on Tuesday.
“This is my New Year message to them; let me assure you I cannot jump off this electoral justice reform train into an empty cattle carriage.”
Jubilee also seeks to project ODM Party led by Raila Odinga as a “bully” and get a chance to fish the other affiliate parties in NASA.
So far, Ford Kenya, ANC and Wiper parties have cried foul over ODM’s dominance in taking up House committees’ leadership positions.
ODM’s Opiyo Wandayi, recently elected as Public Accounts Committee said Jubilee’s charm offensive is nothing out of the ordinary; but they will not sail in that boat.
“What Jubilee is doing, reaching out and trying to buy everyone, is not out of their character.
“What they want is to have a monolithic State, and they think Kenya should not even be a multiparty,” he noted.
Jubilee’s Aden Duale-also the Leader of Majority in Parliament said NASA co-principals have until March to make up their minds if or not Raila will be on the ballot come 2022.
Duale said the stake is much concerning for them that it is for Jubilee.
“We have no political intention, but his Nasa principals have up to March to decide on his political retirement or if he is running in 2022. That decision is important to them more than it is to Jubilee.”
Recognition of Uhuru as the President after October 26 polls by foreign envoys has helped Jubilee further its agenda in isolating Raila by March, a Jubilee politician who requested not to be named said.
Also, affiliate NASA parties have expressed discontentment with Raila oath plan. This is a plus for Jubilee in achieving its agenda by March.
On Saturday, ANC’s Ayub Savula (Lugari) said that “This swearing-in by Raila will do nothing but embarrass him and our supporters.”
“I wonder why he is still thinking of things such as taking an oath. Let him do better things, including cleaning his own house where we have very many complaints,” he said.
In an interview with Citizen TV recently, Raila said he is not backing down on his swearing-in bid because results of August 8 polls show he won.
“We have managed to open the server, and it shows that we won by over one million votes. That is what we will use to swear in,” averred Raila.