Nakuru — Kenyatta and Ruto say their political alliance will bring the country together, but others fear it is a marriage of convenience and route to impunity.
As Kenya’s March elections approach, two powerful rival alliances have emerged. On Tuesday, Prime Minister Raila Odinga formed a coalition with Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka and Trade Minster Moses Wetangula as well as several other parties. This came two days after presidential hopefuls Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto announced they will contest next year’s Kenyan election together, with Deputy Prime Minister Kenyatta as the presidential candidate and Ruto as his running mate.
In Nakuru, in front of thousands of supporters wearing t-shirts with the slogan “UhuRuto – Umoja Kenya” (Kiswahili for United Kenya), Kenyatta and Ruto danced together before addressing the crowd. Ruto forecast that their alliance would create employment and stimulate the Kenyan economy, adding “We come to announce a coalition of ideas between men and women who subscribe to returning this country as a prosperous nation”.
Sharing power, sharing seats
News that an alliance was imminent had been circulating for several days, but disagreements over how exactly power would be shared delayed its formalisation. In the end, the December 4 deadline for signing pre-election agreements forced the two to resolve these differences.
If they are successful in the March 4 election, ministerial positions will be split equally between Kenyatta’s The National Alliance (TNA) and Ruto’s United Republican Party (URP). Other prominent positions, such as the National Assembly and Senate Speakers, will also be divided equally.
Although Kenyatta and Ruto will keep their parties separate, they will work together during the campaign and form a joint manifesto. It is anticipated that their parties will not run candidates against each other in certain regions. This zoning policy has already provoked strong opposition from local party activists who fear they are being side-lined by the party leadership. The central party leadership dismissed this as irrelevant complaints from people who have no interest in supporting the alliance. “Those who are making noises are not real members,” said Brian Mbugua, a URP spokesman, to Think Africa Press.
The problem remains, however, over how the two parties will campaign over those seats both parties are contesting. The location of the rally in Nakuru is an example of where this may be difficult. The town has strong support for both TNA and URP and this support largely follows tribal lines. During the violence, which followed the December 2007 Kenyan election, the Nakuru district saw some of the worst clashes between the Kikuyu and Kalenjin communities. A contest between a Kikuyu-supported TNA candidate and a Kalenjin-supported URP candidate could inflame simmering tensions.