NAIROBI, Kenya, Apr 12 – Sibling rivalry and competing interests within the Azimio La Umoja- One Kenya Alliance will not extinguish the coalition party, Executive Director Raphael Tuju has assured.
Tuju stated this during his first press briefing after he was appointed to the position at a time when a storm that is threatening to scuttle the political movement is brewing.
At the center is the move by affiliate parties within the One Kenya Alliance (OKA) objecting to the expansion of Azimio One Kenya Alliance agreement to include a fourth leg outside the Jubilee, ODM and OKA agreement.
“Those are wedge issues, and we are going to discuss in-house and after we have agreed we will issue an expressive statement,” Tuju stated while referring to the letter by OKA to the Registrar of Political Parties.
Tuju assured that the principals within the coalition led by President Uhuru Kenyatta, Raila Odinga and Kalonzo Musyoka will be having a sit down to iron out the thorny issues on the coalition agreement.
“We will resolve the matters, how we will do that, we leave the details to the team in the coalition that are going to deal with the matter,” he stated.
“There is no cause for alarm our focus is important as our beacon is the August 9 polls. Our opponents on the other side will be very disappointed with this, “Tuju added.
Mistrust and betrayal within the political movement led by Odinga is shaping up to be a wedge threatening to tear apart the coalition.
It remains unclear whether the Azimio One Kenya Alliance agreement deposited at the Registrar of Political Parties might have been doctored causing an uproar from OKA.
“Am not aware whether the document agreement was doctored but what I can tell you is that the final certified document will be in the public domain,” Tuju stated.
Tellingly, Wiper Secretary General Shakilla Abdallah mentioned that indeed there is storm in paradise which needed sorting out.
“We affirm our commitment but what you should know is that the letter was legitimate and its being handled by the principals. This forum will be used to channel any concerns that we have within the coalition,” she said.
KANU Secretary General Nick Salat assured that there will not bolt out following the political friction as they are assured that the principals within the movement will solve the matter.
“In any process there are challenges and are bound to be aired out. The letter leaked but moving forward we will be having discussions before anything goes outside there,” he stated.
In their protest letter, the One Kenya Alliance (OKA) wing led by Wiper Party Leader Kalonzo Musyoka, Gideon Moi of KANU, Cyrus Jirongo of the United Democratic Party (UDP) and Ugenya MP David Ochieng party leader of the Movement for Democracy and Growth want certain issues ironed out before the registration is finalized.
“Our objection is premised on the fact that three (3) issues have not been agreed upon and are to be deliberated and agreed upon before the Agreement is fully registered,” the Secretary Generals of the four parties demanded in a statement.
The Secretary Generals claim that the agreement which was lodged at the Office of Registrar of Political Parties Ann Nderitu on April 1, 2022, was “was withdrawn and certain clauses amended or altered without the consent of all the parties and signatories.”
The outfit alleged that the position of the running mate had been reserved for them in the initial agreement but now things appear to have changed.
In their protest letter, the outfit further alleges that the increment of the members of the coalition Council under the Coalition Political Party from the initial seven to eleven has not been addressed despite the earlier assurances they were given.
The latest internal wrangles within the coalition political party comes barely days after 8 political parties within the coalition decried exclusion in decision making within the coalition and threatened to quit if their grievances were not addressed.
The parties which were led by Machakos Governor Alred Mutua of Maendeleo Chap Chap claimed that that there is a plot to shortchange the fringe parties in the coalition.
