Mustafa Juma

Amani National Congress (ANC) party leader Musalia Mudavadi has opened up on how he was duped by President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy Dr William Ruto ahead of 2013 general elections.

In his book, Soaring above the Storms of Passion, Mudavadi recalls in his autobiography how Uhuru and Ruto drove to his compound one morning after he had launched his campaigns on a UDF ticket.

“Our domestic detail announced that Uhuru and Ruto were outside. They wanted to see me. I ushered them in at once,” the former Deputy Prime Minister writes in his book.

He says that without prompting, Uhuru and Ruto told him they wished to pull out of the poll because of the crimes against humanity charges they were facing at the International Criminal Court.

As such, they wanted Musalia to be their joint presidential candidate against ODM leader Raila Odinga, then Prime Minister.

“In short they were asking me to join them in the election effort. They were concerned that the ICC saga could come in their way,” he recalls.

Surprised by the turn of events, he asked Uhuru and Ruto to allow him to invite a few of his close associates.

He invited the current UNCTAD Secretary General Mukhisa Kituyi, ex-Kakamega Senator Bonny Khalwale and lawyer Dan Ameyo “to come in as my witnesses”.

“A quick one-page memo of understanding was drawn. We agreed to dialogue further and flesh out a more detailed memorandum,” Mudavadi writes.

Uhuru asked for a few days to fill his people in on this new development.

“It was agreed to give him two or so days. Meanwhile, we would all get busy behind the scenes, laying out a formidable campaign plan,” he says. 

However, within no time, the top-secret meeting had spread far and wide, including in the mainstream media that Uhuru and Ruto had pulled out of the race.

Mudavadi recalls that after two days, they saw an angry Uhuru recant the deal on national TV.

Uhuru, Musalia writes, claimed he had been “misled by demons” and that he was still very much in the race.

“The demons were cautioned not to try and reap where they had not sown, or gather where they had not scattered. We understood we were the demons. I have wondered often times how we became demons when we never invited anybody into our space to ask them to step down for us,” he laments.

For the first time, Mudavadi says the Uhuru, Ruto support that never was almost ruined his campaign’s momentum.

He says several MPs asked him if it was better to throw his weight behind another formidable candidate like Raila.

“It was suggested that we were now on a lost cause,” he recalls.

In the book, Mudavadi also says he remains indebted to Ndaragwa MP Jeremiah Kioni who accepted to be his running mate.

Kioni comes from Uhuru’s Central backyard and Mudavadi reckons his decisions was a big political sacrifice considering Kenya’s ethnic contours.