Opposition chief Raila Odinga will not endorse anyone for the Presidency without competitive nominations, his allies have warned, in what is likely to mar muted early celebrations in Musalia Mudavadi’s ANC.
There have been reports that Raila could declare “Mudavadi Tosha” in 2017 and the ANC leader has created the buzz to market himself as the country’s best, inside the opposition, for the top job.
But wide-ranging interviews with Raila’s close allies and top ODM leaders painted a picture of a man who will not hang up his outsize political boots just yet.
Suna East MP Junet Mohamed was most categorical, saying negotiations within Cord are open but “must be on the basis that Raila is a Presidential candidate”.
“Any other insinuations are just figments of the imagination. And for the record, Raila will be on the ballot in 2017,” Mohamed, a close ally of the ODM supremo, told the Star yesterday.
ODM chairman John Mbadi claimed the Mudavadi narrative was being spun by the media and remained emphatic Raila remains the ODM 2017 candidate.
“I don’t think there is any politician who has ever come out to say that Cord – or Raila for that matter – will endorse a Musalia-Kalonzo ticket. I think the media has been trying to fish for information,” Mbadi said.
“That decision [who will fly the Cord flag] hasn’t been arrived at. We are not likely to announce who is the joint Presidential candidate until early 2017.”
But while key ODM leaders remain diplomatic, Raila’s core supporters are increasingly becoming infuriated and feeling disenfranchised with all the endorsement talk.
The former Prime Minister has started an aggressive 2017 charm offensive to reawaken his strongholds and there is a feeling Mudavadi, Kalonzo Musyoka and Moses Wetangu’la aren’t doing as much.
On Saturday, renowned ODM blogger and youth leader Dikembe Disembe wondered why Raila should navigate the “coastal heat” only to return to Nairobi to encounter the “endorse-me group”.
“Now Raila Odinga is navigating the heat and dust of Coast region reaching out to the grassroots and selling our progressive agenda then he will return to Nairobi only to watch press conferences of people wanting endorsements right from the comfort of their homes. Is it fair?”
The Cord leader was on an aggressive four-day offensive at the Coast and visited Kwale and Tana River, marketing Cord as Kenya’s best choice to replace Jubilee, which he accuses of massive corruption.
“This government is not only corrupt but has no interest in ensuring devolution is successful,” Raila said at Hola Stadium on Saturday.
In an interview with the Star yesterday, Mohamed termed Musalia “a good man” and said they