Africa-Press – Kenya. As the 2022 General Election looms, the coming months will be a litmus test for the Kenya Kwanza alliance that brings together United Democratic Alliance (UDA), Amani National Congress (ANC) and FORD-Kenya.
In Kakamega, a battle for the Gubernatorial slot has been brewing as both the UDA and ANC seek to front a candidate.
Mumias East MP Benjamin Washiali recently revealed that Deputy President William Ruto’s UDA brand would get the gubernatorial slot in Kakamega County and Musalia Mudavadi’s ANC would get the Senatorial seat.
Former Kakamega Senator Boni Khalwale was fronted as the candidate to succeed Wycliffe Oparanya while Cleophas Malala would defend the Senatorial seat in the yet to be announced power-sharing deal.
“And some people asked me to go and be senator while Khalwale is governor. Mudavadi and Ruto disagreed with that point. I came later on and found out that they also wanted ANC to get a position in Kakamega and a seat from the ANC-UDA union,” Washiali stated
“Our Gubernatorial candidate in Kenya Kwanza Alliance for governor’s position of Kakamega is from UDA party and the Senator from ANC party. All other positions are open to any party. The media should stop speculations and get that clear,” he added.
However, during a rally in Kakamega, Malala revealed how he alongside Khalwale would strike a deal on the Gubernatorial race by seeking opinion polls from the people.
“Khalwale and I have agreed to sit down and agree that one of us will become governor while the other one will be a Senator. If the people support Boni for governor, I will accept but if they throw their weight behind Cleo to be Governor, I will gladly accept,” he stated amidst cheers from the crowd.
Reports regarding the power-sharing deal from the Kenya Kwanza deal have been rampant with various insiders coming out with divergent opinions.
Nominated Senator Isaac Mwaura had alleged that the Deputy President’s slot is reserved for the Mount Kenya region despite the inclusion of Mudavadi and Wetangula.
Further, media reports indicated that DP Ruto would get the Presidential seat, Mudavadi would get the position of Chief Minister and Moses Wetangula would be allocated two Cabinet Secretary positions.
The reports were, however, disputed by UDA Secretary-General Veronica Maina who termed the allegations as speculations.
“The details of the cooperation between UDA, ANC and Ford Kenya, and any other political party, if at all, will be formally unveiled by the principals at an appropriate time,” she stated.
Aside from Kakamega, the Nairobi Gubernatorial race is also heating up threatening to rip apart the Kenya Kwanza alliance. This saw Nairobi Senator, Johnson Sakaja and gubernatorial aspirant Bishop Margaret Wanjiru get involved in a verbal altercation at a past rally in Westlands.
The alliance will hope to resolve the seemingly cracks within the aspirants during the party primaries.
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