Kalonzo Musyoka under pressure to run for Makueni seat

The Star, Wednesday, June 5, 2013 

FORMER Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka was last night under pressure to run for the Makueni Senate by-election if the family of the Mutula Kilonzo drop out.
Kalonzo remains a likely candidate as the Wiper Democratic Movement Party struggles to meet today’s IEBC deadline for its final party nomination.
Delegations have been meeting Kalonzo trying to persuade him to stand. “There’s a 50-50 chance Kalonzo may contest,” said an insider close to Kalonzo.
Associates of the former Vice President denied that Musyoka has any special interest in the seat and said that he was only being proposed by “impatient people” who want to eliminate Mutula’s family.
“Not at all. He will not even consider it,” said another source close Kalonzo. If Kalonzo decides to run, a clear win would demonstrate that he is the dominant political force in Ukambani and maintain his position as a front runner in national politics.

However Jubilee, which is also in government, is likely put in maximum effort to win the Makueni seat and Kalonzo could be relegated to political oblivion if he failed to win.
By yesterday evening, neither Mutula Kilonzo Junior nor his sister lawyer Kethi Kilonzo had confirmed that they were willing to run. The seat became vacant on the death of their father Mutula Kilonzo in April.
The deadline to submit nominations to the IEBC for the July 22 by-election is 5pm today. “These are just proposals coming from people out there. Hon Musyoka himself is not even aware of these proposals, he has no idea about them,” Makueni MP Daniel Maanzo said yesterday.
Maanzo said the deadline had not expired and that supporters should relax and allow the party to get the best candidate. Former Kibwezi MP and Kalonzo point-man Prof Philip Kaloki confirmed that all options are on the table but pleaded for patience.
“I can assure you that we will settle on this by tomorrow,” Kaloki told the Star when asked whether Kalonzo was being considered. Machakos Senator Johnson Muthama, who is out of the country, said Kalonzo had rejected offers to return to Parliament.
“He rejected the offers we made including my own offer to step down in his favour. The matter ended there and that is still the position as I understand it to date,” he said.
Former Makueni MP Peter Kiilu said it would be interesting if Musyoka decided to run. Kiilu is himself interested in running. “He’s most welcome. It’s a fair contest and it will be up to him and his blueprint to convince the people of Makueni,” Kiilu said.
The former PC confirmed that he quit the Wiper party and is now “firmly” in Narc. Kiilu said that he is not aware of any other Narc candidate and that he may therefore go unopposed. Earlier reports had however indicated that Narc, a member of the Jubilee coaliton, wanted Prof Kaloki to be its candidate, even though he is a Kalonzo supporter..
Kiilu indicated that he would not step down for Musyoka if the former VP was endorsed by Wiper to contest. “I am in a different party and he is in a different party. At the end of the day, the people of Makueni would decide,” he said.
Yesterday, a meeting held in Wote town chaired by Makueni Governor Kivutha Kibwana rejected Kalonzo as an outsider. The meeting was also attended by County Speaker Stephen Ngeni and Majority Leader Francis Mutuku.
The meeting settled on former KNUT official Benson Kithuku and former PC Wilfred Ndolo to run, if Kethi or Junior do not stand. However Ndolo is still a civil servant and would need to resign to stand.
The parties will use consensus to choose their candidates as there is no time to undertake a vote. Wiper chair David Musila confirmed last week that the party would “interview” interested candidates.
The party had given May 31 as the deadline for interested candidates to apply to the Wiper secretariat. A panel comprising the Elections Board chairman, the National Executive Committee chairman, and others were to interview applicants by today.
However yesterday, consultations were still ongoing. According to the IEBC timelines, disputes arising from the nominations must be determined within seven days after being lodged. The official IEBC nomination dates are June 26 and 27.