Keen political watchers will agree that the United Kingdom and the United States are all in agreement that Raila Odinga and William Ruto must come together for the sake of peace and development in Kenya. The two powers have however taken a different approach to the bipartisan talks currently underway at the Bomas of Kenya. Washington is hell-bent on ensuring that the talks’ final result is the creation of the office of Official Opposition complete with a shadow cabinet. London is however pushing for the formation of a Grand Coalition government similar to that of Kibaki and Odinga in 2007
Kenyans were treated to a rare diplomatic spectacle last week when the US Ambassador to Kenya, Meg Whitman and Azimio leader Raila Odinga found themselves clashing over last year’s Presidential elections. The clash, sources say, led to Mr Odinga’s hurriedly planned trip to the United Kingdom last weekend to counter what he termed as the US interference in Kenya’s internal affairs.
Sources say that Odinga’s trip to the UK was hurriedly organized to counter perceived US influence on the ongoing bipartisan talks and interference in Kenya’s internal affairs. Mr Odinga is expected to meet top UK political leaders to discuss the state of affairs in Kenya. He is also expected to meet former President Uhuru Kenyatta who is currently in London.
Keen political watchers will agree that the United Kingdom and the United States are all in agreement that Raila Odinga and William Ruto must come together for the sake of peace and development in Kenya. The two powers have however taken a different approach to the bipartisan talks currently underway at the Bomas of Kenya, according to sources.
Washington is hell-bent on ensuring that the talks’ final result is the creation of the office of Official opposition, complete with a shadow cabinet. London is however pushing for the formation of a Grand Coalition government similar to that of Mwai Kibaki and Raila Odinga formed after a contested presidential election in 2007. The position taken by London has not been received well in Washington, which, according to our sources, was behind William Ruto’s ascendancy to the presidency.
While the formation of the office of the official opposition and a shadow cabinet is attainable through a simple parliamentary constitutional amendment, the formation of a Grand Coalition government seems like an uphill task because it would require a referendum to be conducted.
What has, however, caused panic on the Kenya Kwanza side is the announcement by Azimio that they will soon resume the meet-the-people tours across the country as well as town hall meetings. It is not known, however, why Azimio would do that at a time when the bipartisan talks are underway.
We also have information that Raila Odinga’s team has given up on their demand of opening the IEBC servers and is now ready to settle for the proposed office of the Official Opposition, although a section of his allies are against the idea.
Sources told The Weekly Vision that the talks at Bomas are a mere PR exercise and that Raila Odinga and William Ruto have no need for the talks as a deal is already sealed. According to sources privy to the predetermined outcome of the talks, Mr Odinga will walk out of the deal with something tangible; however, there will be casualties along the way, especially among his close allies who may end up being thrown under the bus as it were.
The ongoing bipartisan talks are just a formality that will eventually arrive at a predetermined outcome, which is the creation of the office of the Official Opposition with a shadow cabinet, a fresh reconstitution of the IEBC, and putting into the constitution both the office of Prime Cabinet Secretary and the National Government Constituency Development Fund.
Sources say Narc-Kenya leader Martha Karua could be the biggest casualty in the whole deal. Keen political observers may have noticed that lately, she has been missing in most Azimio activities. Sources say that she is opposed to the ongoing bipartisan talks. Unconfirmed reports also claim that the US is not keen on having her take any position if Raila Odinga settles for the Official Opposition leader.
Martha Karua was declared persona non grata by the US allegedly on integrity issues. Casualties on President Ruto’s side could include his Deputy Rigathi Gachagua. The DP has led an onslaught against Raila Odinga and Azimio, throwing attacks and insults at him whenever any chance presents itself.
Another casualty will be Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi, as things stand now, a case to declare his office unconstitutional is in the courts, although Kenya Kwanza’s main agenda is to entrench the office in the constitution, should that fail, Musalia could be the biggest casualty.
But why are Raila and Ruto allies going after each other’s throats when there are indications that the two have a secret deal? It is said that both of them are aware that Kenyans are not ready for a handshake and are only preparing the country for a soft landing.
