JOINT POLL STRATEGY FOR KAMATUSA AND GEMA

Eldoret North MP William Ruto and Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta will name their general election lineup and unveil a joint strategy for the polls by the end of next month. Multiple sources close to the two confirmed they had inched closer to agreeing that Uhuru will go for the presidency with Ruto as his running mate. The two along with other members of the G7 Alliance will host a joint meeting for the regional groupings Kamatusa and Gema to be followed by similar meetings in other provinces before they unveil their final election strategy.

MPs in the G7 Alliance confirmed yesterday that the two leaders who are facing charges at the ICC in connection with the 2007-08 post-election violence have agreed to speed up their poll strategy and possibly have a joint lineup in place by the end of May. As part of their plan to extend their networks nationally, representatives for Uhuru and Ruto are scheduled to meet elders from the Nyanza region on April 15. “We want to be quite ahead of things by the end of next month at which time we should have our lineup in place so that we go full throttle into the election campaigns no matter when the polls will be held”, said Cherangany MP Joshua Kuttuny.

He said Ruto and Uhuru are now working very closely with their allies and advisers to focus on winning the polls. Top lawyers who are advising the duo have indicated that they will still be able to run for the presidency despite the cases against them at the ICC. Cases for the two along with former Head of Civil Service Francis Muthaura and radio journalist Joshua arap Sang are expected to proceed to full trial this year after the ICC named three judges to handle the cases.

Dujis MP Adan Duale said Gema and Kamatusa leaders will meet at a joint forum soon to pass key resolutions on how they want to approach the general election. “We have been called all kinds of names but we will prove that we are national leaders. We have national plans and not tribal. We will host more meetings to bring all Kenyans together as we approach the next polls,” said Duale.
Kuttuny and Dwale have already received invitations for the Kisumu meeting with elders which they will attend along with other MPs. On claims that the G7 leaders were perpetrating tribalism through the regional groupings, Kuttuny said they welcomed critics against the Gema and Kamatusa but that would not stop them from pursuing their plans. “The criticism is like frog noise which cannot stop cattle from drinking water and we are not scared at all,” said Kuttuny.

He advised those in Rift Valley opposed to Ruto to name their own candidate who will compete with the Eldoret North MP. “Let them put forward whoever they think has more political muscle than Ruto so that they compete and we will see what happens,” said Kuttuny. The lineup and strategy to be unveiled by Ruto and Uhuru will include a pre-election MOU to be signed by the two. Sources said Ruto and Uhuru have been discussing how to approach the polls either separately or jointly in the first round of voting.
Advisers have considered the pros and cons of each and many favour the two putting together their resources to run jointly. However both have been assuring their supporters that they will run for the top seat with Ruto announcing at the recent Kamatusa meeting that he would be on the ballot paper using his United Republican Party (URP). Although the ICC has said it has no mandate to interfere with internal Kenya matters on whether the two will run for the top seat, there are those who argue that Ruto and Uhuru may not pass the integrity test in the constitution and hence the duo may be forced out of the race.