Amani National Congress party leader Musalia Mudavadi has dismissed reports that he could be Raila Odinga’s running mate in 2022.
In a round table meeting with the media on August 13, Mudavadi said that his eyes are set for the presidency and will not settle for less, nor support Raila Odinga.
“I am in this (presidential race) to the end. I have a clear plan to sail Kenyans to socio-economic prosperity. Anyone who thinks otherwise is daydreaming,” Mudavadi said.
Other than refusing to be Raila’s running mate, Musalia also shared his economic framework for the 2022 presidential contest.
The former vice president said that his government will ease Kenya’s ballooning public debt, lower the cost of doing business in the country to attract investors, and also brig down the cost of living.
He took a swipe on Deputy President William Ruto’s bottom-up economic model, saying it’s not the right solution to Kenya’s problems.
“Rationalisation of public expenditure does not need economic models. It requires practicability. People want money in their pockets, that is what my government will deliver,” Mudavadi said.
The possibility of Musalia being Raila’s running mate emerged after a meeting chaired by President Uhuru Kenyatta on August 10 in State House Mombasa.
The meeting was attended by Raila Odinga (ODM), Gideon Moi (KANU), Musalia Mudavadi (ANC) Kalonzo Musyoka (Wiper), Moses Wetang’ula (Ford Kenya), and Kakamega Governor Wycliffe Oparanya.
Reports from the meeting indicated that President Uhuru Kenyatta aims at uniting the ex-NASA principals to increase their chances in the 2022 General Election.
It also emerged that President Uhuru Kenyatta prefers to have Raila Odinga as his successor over the other members who were present.
He urged the other leaders to aim at being Raila’s running mate or the government positions that will be created from the BBI.
“We maintain that our irreducible minimum is that we will only have Raila as our equal partner. We said we could not make a decision on whether to back Raila since such decisions must be ratified by party organs,” a source who attended the meeting said as quoted by the People Daily Newspaper.
