DEAL CLOSED; UHURU KENYATTA FOR PRESIDENCY, WILLIAM RUTO HIS VP

Posted on Oct 21, 2012 | No Comments

After months of speculations and political anxiety, now the JAMIIPRESS can authoritatively report that Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta and Eldoret North MP William Ruto have hammered a deal that will see Uhuru becoming the president and Ruto as his running mate.

The revelations came to public limelight on Saturday evening. The two leaders have agreed that Uhuru will be the joint TNA and URP presidential candidate with William Ruto as his running mate in a new power-sharing formula agreed last week.

The full details of the political realignment which is still at its early stages, emerged as the two leaders said they would run on a joint ticket in what they consider to be a winning team.

The deal was struck in a high level meeting in Nairobi between the two leaders, where they confirmed that in the proposed formula, one of the two parties that they head will take the presidency while the other will take the deputy presidency and the parliamentary majority leader.

“We are agreeing that the side that will have the presidency will give up the deputy presidency and the majority leader,” Ruto said.

“We want to have a formula that will win the elections decisively in round one.” Ruto added.

Consequently, the two leaders proposed that TNA and URP and their affiliate parties will share nominations to the 66 executive positions in government equally.

The 66 positions that they are targeting in the power-sharing agreement include cabinet secretaries, deputy cabinet secretaries and principal secretaries.

The New Constitution provides for a maximum of 22 Cabinet positions which is what a 10-member team appointed by the two leaders to work out the finer details are working with.

Also the two leaders said they would reach out to other parties including Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka’s Wiper Democratic Movement, New Ford-Kenya which is under Justice Minister Eugene Wamalwa, Balala’s Republican Congress Party and Ford-People.

“We believe in building a coalition that will bring healing to the nation and to lay a solid base for a round one win. It will be a direct referendum on Uhuru and me and The Hague issue,” Ruto said.

Both Uhuru and Ruto are facing crimes against humanity cases at the International Criminal Court (ICC) over the 2007/08 post-election violence.

If the new arrangement works, it would be a big blow to Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s Presidential quest as he was confident that Ruto will support his presidential bid.