Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka on Friday met Kakamega Governor Wycliffe Oparanya and Devolution Cabinet Secretary Eugene Wamalwa days after announcing exit from Nasa.
Details of the meeting remained scant but Kalonzo's confidants told the Star meetings with key leaders from around the country is part of his efforts to build a coalition for his run for State House in 2022.
Oparanya is ODM deputy party leader and chairman of the Council of Governors. Wamalwa is understood to harbour ambitions for higher office. Meeting them and others is considered part of Kalonzo's strategy to make inroads in Western.
After the meeting at his Nairobi office, Kalonzo said it was only a coming together of “minds on some of the critical national issues”.
He posted on social media platforms about the meeting: “How the spread of Covid-19 can be slowed, common challenges affecting Kenyans due to the pandemic and a discussion on the status of the socioeconomic challenges across the 47 counties and how all leaders have to come together to find solutions during this time."
A statement from his office said the three leaders discussed at length the worrying trends in the spread of Covid-19 and the measures that could mitigate the pandemic.
The press statement also said the leaders discussed the state of the economy hard-hit by the coronavirus.
It said: "With more than 12,000 Kenyans now having been tested and confirmed negative, and scientific projections signalling a meteoric spread of coronavirus infections across Nairobi and the rest of the country, Hon Kalonzo Musyoka has shared his great concern with the chairperson of the Council of Governors and the Devolution CS, with keenness to share reflections on how all the national leaders must necessarily adopt a common position to support His Excellency President [Uhuru] Kenyatta’s efforts to stop further spread."
The Wiper boss said that to curb the spread of the disease, Kenyans “should be ready to embrace inevitable compromises that will compel the flattening of the curve”.
On Monday, the President is expected to chair an extraordinary meeting with the 47 governors to deliberate on their level of preparedness in containing the pandemic.
Since March 13, Covid-19 has claimed more than 200 lives.
Some county chiefs have indicated they will implore the President to re-impose the lockdown if the alarming pace of the pandemic continues.
Forty-four out of the 47 counties have reported Covid-19 cases. Only Baringo, West Pokot and Samburu have not confirmed any cases.
Ironically, Kalonzo who was with the leaders who have been cited for violating protocols on control of the virus "urged all government ministries, county governments, and political leaders and political parties to emphatically make a clarion call and lead by example in exercising precautionary measures outlined by the Ministry of Health".
“Forestalling a possible national calamity, critical cases and mass deaths, it must be the urgent duty and commitments of all political leaders and government officials to take strict measures to save the country, actions that posterity will document as having been timely and inescapable,” Kalonzo's statement said.
The former Vice President, who on Wednesday announced Wiper will be starting divorce proceedings from the opposition outfit Nasa, is keen to succeed President Kenyatta who retires in 2022.
Already, the Wiper Democratic Movement has signed a post-election cooperation agreement with the ruling Jubilee Party. The Wednesday announcement will see the deal escalated to a coalition. That will give the party a say in the running of the Jubilee government.
Wiper will be the second political party to enter into a coalition agreement with Jubilee after Baringo Senator Gideon Moi’s Kanu formalised their union in June.
“They agreed to work tirelessly and seamlessly for the greater good of the nation, now and in the future, to make sure that the aspirations deeply cherished of national unity and shared prosperity are realised,” the statement said.
Kalonzo, a presidential candidate in the 2007 election, in May held similar meetings with former Bomet Governor Isaac Rutto who is also the CCM party leader.
Last month he held a series of meetings with Senator Moi, a clear pointer to his coalition-building effort.
Elected first to Parliament in 1985, Kalonzo has served in several ministerial positions.
He was Raila’s running mate in the 2013 and 2017 presidential races and he has now pledged not to back any other candidate in 2022.
Two governors from Ukambani - Kivutha Kibwana (Makueni) and Alfred Mutua (Machakos) have also expressed interest in the presidency, which will complicate Kalonzo's strategy.
On Tuesday, in a leaked audio conversation between Kitui Governor Charity Ngilu and former Kibwezi MP Kalembe Ndile, they accused Kalonzo of pursuing his selfish interests whenever an opportunity for Ukambani arises. Ngilu said the Wiper boss cannot be trusted to negotiate the interests of the region.
“Kalonzo will never negotiate for the community. If he negotiates for us, we are finished,” Ngilu says in the audio, confirmed as legitimate by Ndile.
(Edited by V. Graham)