After it became clear that Kibaki and several powerful
individuals are grooming Musalia Mudavadi for the presidency, Uhuru Kenyatta's
camp went into panic mode. It was all along believed that Kibaki's support and
the subsequent state resources were Uhuru's for the taking, but that mentality
has in recent days fizzled out, following Mudavadi's action.
Mudavadi has continued to represent Kibaki in various functions,
including delivering the president's speech during the burial of Martin
Shikuku. Everywhere he goes, he is accorded full state protection, including
services of a military chopper.
Initially, it was thought that Mudavadi was being brought into
the race solely to prevent Raila from ascending to the presidency by splitting
his vote basket, which would then give Uhuru an easy ride to the throne, but it
is now emerging that 'Project Mudavadi' was brought into the race with an
intention of getting into State House. Apparently, individuals close to the
president, namely his private secretary Nick Wanjohi and Nyeri businesswoman,
Mary Wambui, realized that Kenyans would gang up against efforts to give them
another Kikuyu president.
They calculated that if Uhuru were to go for a runoff
with Raila, most of the other tribes would gang up against Uhuru, by virtue of
being a Kikuyu, thus giving Raila an easy ride. Armed with such statistics and
intelligence from the NSIS, they came up with a fool proof plan, which was to
have Mudavadi as a presidential candidate.
The biggest hurdle however, was to pull Mudavadi out of ODM, a
task which proved to be next to impossible. For many months, Mudavadi was
seduced but not even the promise of an automatic presidential candidature would
lure him. So, to add pressure on Mudavadi, Wanjohi and his camp decided to give
the deputy premier competition in his Western backyard. They had to plant a
'half sellable' puppet in Western, a move that saw the rise and rise of Eugene
Wamalwa.
He was strategically given visibility and power so that Western could
see an alternative leader in him. In politics, no politician is ready to
welcome a replacement and Mudavadi was no different. When Eugene declared that
he was to contest the presidency, Mudavadi's camp was rattled and they had to
rethink their strategy. He was now staring at the risk of losing his Western
backyard to a newcomer. Whether or not he was aware that Wamalwa was reading
from a prepared script, the threat was real and had to be countered. What
better way than to vie for the presidency himself, and what better party than
the one he is assured of state resources; the one he had all along declined?
Flash forward to the present, Uhuru Kenyatta realized that he is
being sidelined, and even his previous 'anytime' gate pass to statehouse
reportedly revoked. He is said to be doing everything possible to avoid meeting
the people who used him and dumped him at the Hague. During the commemoration
of his father's death, he was conspicuously absent. At that time, he had taken
a trip to meet his legal team in Europe, before departing for Dubai for a well
deserved 'holiday'. However, on his so called vacation, Uhuru was accompanied
by close friend and Kikuyu mp, Lewis Nguyai. It is believed that the Dubai trip
was just time out, to evaluate and re-strategize his political future.
Soon after the trip, communication between the Deputy Premier
and man he deputizes began. During the past few weeks, Citizen weekly paper is
reporting that Uhuru and Raila have made several phone calls. Allegedly, the
two talk at least twice per week, a situation which never used to happen a few
weeks back. Uhuru is said to have briefed Raila before he departed to campaign
in Ndhiwa, and Raila made sure that he was welcomed well. Raila also made a
phone call to Uhuru before going to Kangema. Unlike other calls, Raila treats
Uhuru's very seriously, and anytime he is in the midst of people, he excuses
himself to take it privately.
This new found friendship is in bid to counter Mudavadi, whom
they see as a project out to prevent both of them from getting to State House.
It will be interesting to watch how events unfold.
© jatelo and extracts from Citizen Weekly