Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka’s troops have revealed why he has rejected President William Ruto’s offer to join the Kenya Kwanza administration.
They say Kalonzo is busy putting his house in order and building a strong political machine to face Ruto in the 2027 general election.
“My leader is an ambitious man and he must be preparing himself to run for president in 2027,” Kitui Senator Enoch Wambua said.
Wambua, a close ally of the Wiper boss and a member of the party’s executive council, said any attempt to join the government will jeopardise his plans.
“Right now, he [Kalonzo] has put his energy into preparing for a serious stab at the presidency in 2027,” he added.
The assertion corroborates Kalonzo’s previous statement that he would, immediately after the August 9 polls, activate his political activities for the presidency.
The outspoken lawmaker also hinted at Kalonzo becoming the strong voice of the opposition, saying his leader will "objectively" put the current government on its toes to deliver on its pledges.
The revelations expose Kalonzo’s political manoeuvres barely three months after Azimio’s presidential candidate Raila Odinga and his running mate Martha Karua narrowly lost to Ruto in the August elections.
The President revealed that Kalonzo has rejected numerous calls to team up with him in government.
While attending a church service in Kitui on Sunday, Ruto and his deputy Rigathi Gachagua said they had reached out to the Wiper boss before and after the election but their efforts had been thwarted.
“As I had promised during my campaigns, I looked for Kalonzo and told him, my friend now we have government, what do you think? But he told me he was comfortable in the opposition,” he said.
“So, we said okay, opposition pia ni kazi (opposition is also a job). Let him try that.”
But Kalonzo’s men doubted and questioned Ruto’s remarks, adding that the President has in the past strongly ruled out a ‘handshake’ with the opposition.
“I think the President was just playing to the gallery because at one point, he says he doesn’t want a handshake, and on the other side he says he invited Kalonzo to government. That is doublespeak,” Kitui Central MP Makali Mulu said.
Mulu said his party leader has deferred his presidential ambitions in the last three elections and it is time he prepares early for the top seat.
“As a rational leader, Kalonzo must set his eyes on the presidency. It is obvious [why he declined to join government] – he is preparing [for the polls],” the legislator added.
With Raila likely out of the presidential contest in 2027, Kalonzo is seen as the standing force against Ruto in his re-election bid.
Ruto’s allies, however, downplayed Kalonzo’s political credentials to threaten the President’s leadership in 2027.
“I do not think he will be the kind of person who can threaten the leadership of Ruto in 2017,” former Mumias East MP Benjamin Washiali said.
Washiali said Kenyans appear keen to elect fresh blood in future elections, a resolve that will work against Kalonzo who served as vice president in the past.
“If there is someone to challenge Ruto in 2027, that person must be fresh blood. Kenyans are not ready to recycle leaders,” he added.
Since Ruto’s election, Kalonzo has been calling out the President’s moves, including the nomination of his Cabinet secretaries.
“The selection of the Cabinet secretaries, some of whom have active criminal cases, is questionable. What are you asking our parliamentarians to do?”
“If I was William Ruto, I would withdraw some of these completely to avoid national shame and even international shame,” he said last month, pointing to his active role in checking Ruto’s government.
In the past, Raila was the key voice in criticising the government.
On Monday, the Star exclusively revealed how the former VP was preparing to inherit Raila’s political bases.
The ODM boss controls nearly half of the country’s vote bloc.
Last week, Kalonzo camped in Raila’s Nyanza turf, heaping praises on the ODM boss in what was seen as an early attempt to entice himself to the region in readiness for inheritance.
Reports indicate he has planned more engagements in Coast, Western and Nyanza in the coming days. These are Raila’s political bedrocks.
“Over the years, I do not know why Raila Odinga cannot be allowed to be President of this country. It is sad,” Kalonzo said in Homa Bay on Sunday.
Raila and Kalonzo have politically worked together since 2013.
In the 2013 and 2017 general election, Kalonzo was Raila’s presidential running mate. They lost to retired President Uhuru Kenyatta in both instances.
Kalonzo was destined to become Chief Cabinet Secretary had the Azimio coalition formed the government.
Having supported him since 2013, pundits believe that Raila will likely reciprocate by supporting the Wiper leader in the next election.
In March this year, Kalonzo revealed a secret agreement he signed with Raila in the run-up to the 2017 election to back him for President in the 2022 polls.
Kalonzo revealed they had agreed that had Raila won the presidency in the 2017 polls, he was to prime him as his successor in the August polls.
“By accepting nomination of the ODM party to run as President for the fifth time, I believe my brother, the Honourable Raila Odinga, has committed an irreparable material breach of this agreement,” Kalonzo told the press in Nairobi.