THE RUNNING MATE FACTOR.

THE RUNNING MATE FACTOR

The search for the deputy presidential candidate has proved a nightmare among the presidential hopefuls. Each presidential candidate is at the moment in search for the ‘big names’ as a running mate in the hotly contested presidential race to succeed President Mwai Kibaki. It is however great to realise that some of these big names are booked. The likes of vice president, Kalonzo Musyoka and Eldoret north Member of Parliament, William Samoei Ruto, have since dropped their presidential bids and booked their positions as running mates to powerful and popular presidential aspirants in the race to succeed president Kibaki.

The Right Honourable Prime Minister, Raila Odinga, has for example settled on the Excellence the Vice President, Kalonzo Musyoka as his running mate that saw the latter sacrifice his ambitions of being a president and merging with the PM to form the Coalition on Reforms and Democracy (CORD) Alliance. The Vice President, who hails from Eastern province and which is seen as a major vote hunting region, proved to be a greater catch for the PM as he is viewed to be commanding greater numbers in the region that  has about 2.8 million registered voters. The choice of the VP is dubbed as a great move as he was seen to have pulled over a million votes in the disputed 2007 election just before switching to cushion a desperate Kibaki in government. According to one of the analysts, the choice of the VP for the PM, is a good one as the two have worked together earlier in KANU, LDP,ODM-K and even in the coalition Government. He says that the combination is a powerful one as Raila is seen as a symbol of reforms and the second liberation struggle in the country as Kalonzo is the face of national stability. I also tend to think that the VP has the credentials and the ability to give the PM the numbers to win the elections.

Similarly, in the JUBILEE alliance, the choice of the Eldoret North MP, HON. William Ruto as the Deputy Presidential candidate is also one that we cannot purport to look down upon as Ruto commands a greater Rift Valley province and he was seen to have delivered in the 2007 elections for the Orange Democratic Movement. He is a politician, who is viewed to be aggressive and good at building a formidable political base. He is also a super implementer and thus proves to be of greater influence. However being ambitious and determined, he has been opposed by most people on the basis of his integrity credentials as he is facing charges at The Hague based ICC court in relation to the previous elections and at the moment faces cases of land theft in the country. I tend to think that this integrity credentials that they share both with Uhuru, then to work against them and thus they cannot be trusted to implement the land policies as they are involved in the land grabbing cases. The two also were seen to oppose the constitution and we are sure that they may not implement it to the latter. However Ruto having joined Uhuru is assumed to have been since they both have cases at The Hague and thus the name ‘suspect’s alliance.”

Presidential candidate on the Restore and Build Kenya party(RBK) and former Education Permanent Secretary, Hon Ole Kiyiapi, and the Eagle alliance presidential hopeful, Hon Peter Kenneth, pulled up surprises with unconventional choices of running mates for the March 4^th General Elections.

Ole Kiyiapi, settled on a businesswoman Winnie Kaburu Kinyua who is also the party’s national treasurer as the running mate, a move that was unexpected. This was mainly so as to appeal to the women as he is the only candidate to have picked a female as a running mate. Being a career teacher and former head of the Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA), their combination is likely to appeal to the educationists, technocrats and other professionals.

As for Kenneth of the Eagle Alliance, the choice of the little known Ronald Osumba is a funny move as we had postulated that he would pick his counterpart from the Party of National Unity, Hon. Raphael Tuju. Osumba is a technocrat and a tenderfoot in national politics but he has taken part previously in leadership positions in various places including at Starehe Boys Centre.

As for the Amani coalition of the DPM, Hon. Musalia Mudavadi, they haven’t chosen a running mate yet but are locked up in a stalemate as they have to choose someone who is able to deliver, as mudavadi is in search of a hardworker to counter his opponents in the CORD and JUBILEE Alliance. The DPM, at the moment is having a long list from which he has to choose his running mate. The long list comprises of KANU National chairman, Gideon Moi, who hails from Rift Valley that is a major voting bloc, Eugene Wamalwa who is from his home backyard in western province and thus is not suitable since it won’t give the coalition a national outlook.

On the other hand, we have Martha Karua of the NARC party who up to date hasn’t chosen his running candidate and is in search of a running mate who is yet to deliver so as to counter his opponents. We had opted that she could choose Danson Mungatana who later defected from her party to TNA.

H.E Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka

Current vice President