Plans to have Kalonzo rejoin parliament underway

Former Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka (left) with former Prime Minister Raila Odinga addressing the press at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) on arrival from South Africa on April 10, 2013. Photo/BILLY MUTAI  NATION MEDIA GROUP

By CAROLINE WAFULA cwafula@ke.nationmedia.com and JOHN NGIRACHU jngirachu@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted  Thursday, April 11  2013 at  13:20

Former Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka will rejoin parliament if plans to trigger a by-election or if the list of nominated MPs submitted to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) is amended in his favour.

Kisumu Town West MP Olago Aluoch told Nation that all possible avenues to accommodate Mr Musyoka back to parliament are being reviewed.

However, the fate of former Prime Minister Raila Odinga is still unclear although most MPs believe he should stay away from parliament to avoid humiliation from his opponents.

"Some MPs do not want Raila to come back to parliament so as to avoid humiliation from other political opponents," he said.

Speaking on the sidelines of the on-going training for MPs at the Safari Park Hotel in Nairobi, Mr Aluoch said there are two options Cord is exploring for Mr Musyoka’s possible comeback.

In the first option, an MP from a Cord stronghold would resign and Mr Musyoka would then be nominated to contest in the subsequent by-election, which it is presumed he would easily win.

Mr Aluoch said Cord is looking for a “safe” constituency and that there are even some from Nyanza which can be availed.

He couldn’t divulge any names because the plans are considered “a work in progress”.

The second option is to have Mr Musyoka nominated directly, which would involve essentially amending the lists of possible nominees submitted to IEBC.

This would be a difficult process, he admitted, because if anybody on that list, from which MPs have already been nominated, drops out, the electoral commission would simply pick someone from the list.

The challenge, however, is to get the IEBC play along with the party’s submissions which it is yet to do formally.

If the party goes ahead to present Mr Musyoka’s name at this point it would mean his name appears at the bottom of the coalition’s nomination list.

The next option the coalition is exploring therefore is to have all its nominated MPs resign so that it submits a fresh list of nominations, which would give Mr Musyoka a good chance of being nominated.

Cord appeared to have put all its affairs on hold until its leaders - Mr Odinga, Mr Musyoka and Mr Moses Wetangula returned from their holiday in South Africa.

The coalition had by the end of the day on Wednesday not submitted its list of nominees to the Committee on Appointments and the other critical committees in the National Assembly.

Suba MP John Mbadi told the Nation on Wednesday evening that Cord had been waiting for “the principals” to return as they would be involved in the selection of MPs to the committees.

Cord’s three heads came back to the country on Wednesday, with Mr Odinga telling journalists, “We are back and are going to engage everyone constructively.”

He refused to comment on rumours that they were plotting for a political comeback.

If Mr Musyoka makes it back to parliament, he could possibly take up the role of Minority Leader.

If things go as planned for Mr Musyoka, he would enter parliament the same way President Uhuru Kenyatta did in 2001 when Mark Too resigned as a nominated MP in his favour.