- Wiper boss Kalonzo Musyoka, who had also confirmed attendance, was reportedly to replace Raila.
- ODM has protested that the meeting had been illegally convened with the Secretary General Junet Mohamed.
Image: FILE
Discreet plans by some opposition luminaries to topple Raila Odinga as the leader of Azimio triggered a last-minute standoff on Monday as a crucial meeting was aborted.
The Star understands that all was set for the 4 pm meeting until Raila pulled out hours before the beginning of the session owing to widening cracks in Azimio over his future.
Besides ODM other parties that had confirmed attendance included Eugene Wamalwa’s DAP-K party, retired president Uhuru Kenyatta’s Jubilee, Gideon Moi’s Kanu and PNU which former Cabinet Secretary Peter Munya leads.
Wiper boss Kalonzo Musyoka had also confirmed attendance.
Narc Kenya, whose leader Martha Karua has written to Azimio, giving notice to withdraw from the coalition and Raila’s ODM had not confirmed participation in Monday’s meeting.
Details gleaned from some of Raila’s allies show that while the ODM boss had confirmed to them that he would attend the virtual meeting, he later learnt of a plan to oust him from the leadership of Azimio.
Raila was to be replaced by Kalonzo in radical changes that would have whittled down Raila's influence as the country's opposition boss.
“It was after we read some mischief that as ODM we decided that our leader was not going to be party to a charade aimed at endorsing a predetermined agenda to replace him as the leader of Azimio," said a senior ODM official aware of the last minute intrigues.
The official claimed that the agenda of the meeting was not shared with ODM as required by the Azimio constitution, leaving Raila’s camp in the dark hours of Monday’s meeting.
“The law is clear that the agenda of any formal meeting of the Azimio council must be circulated in advance but as you realised, the purpose of Monday’s meeting was at the whims of some members," he added.
After getting wind of the elaborate plan to kick out Raila from the helm of Azimio, the opposition was prevailed upon by his allies to pull out of the meeting.
Uhuru, the chairperson of the Azimio La Umoja One Kenya coalition party was to chair the meeting on Monday virtually at 4 pm in a last-minute ditch to seal widening cracks.
Raila could later learn that his replacement at the helm of the coalition was to be part of the agenda of the online meeting, triggering a vicious blame game.
It was at this point that Raila’s allies led by ODM chairperson Gladys Wanga called for a press briefing around 1 pm on Monday and denounced the planned Zoom meeting.
The party claimed that Raila was not aware of the planned meeting at 4 pm on Monday.
The party alleged that the session had been illegally convened without the knowledge of the coalition’s secretary general Junet Mohamed, Raila’s key confidant and National Assembly Minority leader.
ODM argued that the powers to convene a meeting of the council are vested in the secretary general, erecting technical hurdles that saw the meeting abort at the last minute.
“We are not privy to any meeting and our party leader Raila Odinga is the leader of Azimio. Any meeting must involve ODM to make any sense," said Wanga, the Homa Bay Governor.
She was accompanied by newly installed ODM officials including Vihiga Senator Godfrey Osotsi (deputy party leader) and political affairs secretary Rosa Buyu.
Osotsi stated that some Azimio partners had failed to follow the constitution by calling for a meeting without involving all parties.
“The partners missed the point when they attempted to hold a meeting without the Azimio secretary general," Osotsi said.
Some Azimio partners are pushing for Raila to be ejected after the ODM leader allowed his party members to join President William Ruto’s broad-based government.
The faction claims that Raila cannot be both in government while leading the opposition even as he also eyes the African Union Commission Chairperson job.
Speaking on Sunday, the team which included Kalonzo, and Wamalwa said they are preparing for 2027 without Raila.
“I can clearly say that Raila has decided to go to AU, we wish him well, we are not going to work without him," said Jubilee Secretary General Jeremiah Kioni, an ally and confidant of Uhuru.
“We are not going to AU with Raila we shall remain here in Kenya and remain united with Kenyans to ensure that all is well."
The faction has even declared Kalonzo as the de facto leader of Azimio saying Raila should focus on his efforts to win his AUC bid.
“Us we remain under the leadership of Musyoka to check the government, without a strong opposition we will create a dictatorship," Wamalwa said.
“We are going to stand with the people and remain the people’s opposition, we wish Mzee(Raila) well as he is going to Addis Ababa, we see he is gaining momentum, we see him succeeding and we wish him to succeed as he goes to AU."