Kalonzo Changes Tune After Raila’s Chief CS Offer

Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka is said to be pondering returning to Azimio after former Prime Minister Raila Odinga offered him the Chief Cabinet Secretary position.

According to reports, the former Vice President is warming up to the position and has demanded that it be included in the Azimio as a guaranteed slot for him.

Kalonzo is also said to be holding talks with a number of Azimio la Umoja leaders after rumours went awash on Wednesday, May 18, that he had met both President Uhuru Kenyatta as well as the former Prime Minister.

He defended his demands arguing that the position, which is similar to that of the Prime Minister, is not contained in the Constitution.

From left: Kalonzo Musyoka, Gideon Moi, and Uhuru Kenyatta and at the Wiper Party leader’s Karen residence on March 18, 2022.

Kalonzo Musyoka

Musyoka was offered the position on Monday, May 16, as former Prime Minister Raila Odinga unveiled his cabinet line-up that include Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho snapping up the Lands Ministry and Peter Munya retaining his position as the Agriculture Cabinet Secretary.

On the same day, Musyoka held a parallel conference where he unveiled his own Presidential run after the fallout with the Azimio brigade.

He argued that he could not continue working with the former Prime Minister after he lost the running mate slot to Kirinyaga native Martha Karua.

After he was offered to Super CS job, however, his allies, including Wiper Deputy Secretary-General Dan Maanzo, rubbished the position as a pipe dream which was not contained in the Constitution.

Maanzo argued that the appointment meant nothing and that the Azimio top echelon was plotting to lie to him.

“The position of Chief Minister does not exist in the Constitution of Kenya and is unimplementable if you’re terming it in the framework it has been put in.

“Unless the Constitution of Kenya is amended, there is nothing like Chief CS or Chief Minister in our Constitution,” stated the Makueni MP.

Musyoka appointed Andrew Sunkuli as his running mate.

ODM party leader Raila Odinga and Wiper’s Kalonzo Musyoka shake hands after Kalonzo endorsed him for the presidency at Jacaranda Grounds on Saturday, March 12, 2022.

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Kalonzo Musyoka