Wiper party leader Kalonzo Musyoka, the co-chair of the ongoing bipartisan talks at the Bomas of Kenya and East African Legislative Assembly Member Hassan Omar went for each other’s throats last week over the 2022 ‘stolen elections’.
The clash between Kalonzo and Omar cooled down only after Governor Cecilly Mbarire, the National Dialogue Committee acting Chairperson intervened. The bone of contention was Omar’s reference to ODM Raila Odinga as a perennial election loser, something Kalonzo did not take kindly to. He kept on reminding Omar to stop insulting Mr Odinga because, in two of the elections, he was his running mate and he knew what had transpired in those elections.
A seemingly angry Kalonzo told Omar to his face that he regretted having appointed him as the Secretary General of the Wiper Party. At one point, Kalonzo told Omar “You should stop being childish if this committee is to make progress”. An agitated Omar took to the microphone and reminded Kalonzo that he was defending Raila, yet he lost the previous elections. This again prompted Kalonzo to inform Omar that he would never be the governor of Mombasa, and Omar shouted back, “And you shall never be the president of this country”.
Analysts now say that Omar and Kalonzo have been having personal differences over the last Mombasa gubernatorial race after Kalonzo cleared former Nairobi Governor Mike Mbuvi Sonko to fly the Wiper flag over him, Omar viewed Sonko as Kalonzo’s preferred candidate and jumped ship to join Kenya Kwanza through UDA.
Although Mike Sonko also jumped ship at the eleventh hour in support of Omar, he was barred by the IEBC from contesting. Omar believes that had Kalonzo kept out of the Mombasa gubernatorial campaigns, it would have been easier for Sonko to convince the Kamba community to vote for him, but he (Kalonzo) managed to convince the Kamba community who provided the swing vote in the Mombasa gubernatorial race. It is estimated that there are 60,000 Kamba registered voters in Mombasa County. The Kamba community in Mombasa voted for the ODM candidate Abdulswamad Nassir.
