Within a time frame of three days, two top Amani National Congress officials have left the party leaving its party leader Musalia Mudavadi has he push his bid for presidency come 2020.
The sudden exit of the secretary-general Barrack Muluka and Eliud Owalo has left the party in limbo.
Some party members want Musalia Mudavdi to contest for the top seat while others believe he should be Deputy President William Ruto’s running mate.
ANC party leader has however expressed his frustration of being told working for William Ruto.
“We welcome Ruto as long as he supports our bid for the presidency,” he said on Thursday.
Mudavadi added that there are no differences between Ruto and President Uhuru Kenyatta.
Sources claim that Muluka and Owalo have been behind the push for Mudavadi to support Ruto.
Mudavadi’s allies had sought to change the ANC constitution to stop the party leader from becoming any presidential candidate’s running mate in the next elections.
Sources say the changes were meant to make Musalia an automatic presidential candidate.
Speaking about his exit from the party on Wednesday, Barrack Muluka said the space around ANC party leader “needs to be decongested”.
Owalo who was appointed by Mudavadi to replace Muluka resigned just two days after taking the office and giving a similar reason of exit – “to create ample space in the party and ANC leader without feeling suffocated with my views and suggestions”.
Political analysts believe Muluka and Owalo left the party since they had grown weary to see Mudavdi work together with William Ruto.
Sources told a local publication the quitting of the two from ANC was due to “the Ruto effect”.
According to Daily Nation, sources say Mudavadi, William Ruto, and Moses Wetangula had agreed to work together in a deal that would see them go into the 2022 polls as a team.
It is after that agreement that Mudavadi publicly declared that he had no problem working with William Ruto but gave conditions for their engagement.
On of the verbal agreements was that William Ruto had to publicly support Mudavadi’s presidential bid. Sources claim both Muluka and Owala were the brainchild of the idea.
“They were the ideological force that was to craft the agreement on the ANC side,” the source told Daily Nation.
“Just look at the general body of their resignation letters. They were written from one source and by the same person.”
Within ANC circles, Eliud Owalo was quietly known as the linkman to the Deputy President.
“Muluka and Owalo are not happy with Mr. Mudavadi for not honoring the deal with the DP,” the ANC source told Daily Nation.
ANC deputy party leader Ayub Savula has even gone ahead Owalo as a traitor.
“Mr. Owalo was a mole who came to the party to drive Ruto’s agenda,” Savula said.
“To scuttle Owalo’s plans, we amended the party constitution so that Mudavadi does not become anyone’s deputy. Once he realized he could not achieve his mission, Owalo had no option but to take a walk.”
Owalo has however declined to comment on the claims.
“I want to create reasonable legroom with Mr. Mudavadi to guard and sustain our 25-year friendship, respect and professional engagements,” Mr. Owalo, a management consultant, said.
Ruto’s camp, on the other hand, has denied any links with Owalo.
Ruto ally and Belgut MP Nelson Koech accused Savula of stretching his imagination too far.
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“Mudavadi is a national and respectable leader and the DP would not hesitate to reach out to him. The DP is pragmatic and does not work through emissaries,” Mr. Koech said.
Savula and Alfred Agoi however had kind words for departed Muluka describing him as a selfless leader.
“Muluka is a good person to work with. He gave everything to the party. We cannot begin saying he did nothing. The former ANC secretary-general will continue rendering professional services to the party,” the Sabatia MP said according to Daily Nation.
