Chama Cha Uzalendo (CCU) leader Wavinya Ndeti has ditched her party for Wiper on whose ticket she will use to wrestle the Machakos Gubernatorial seat from Governor Alfred Mutua in the August 8 General Election.
Yesterday, Wiper Leader Kalonzo Musyoka received Wavinya into the party and unveiled her as the party’s candidate for the Machakos seat; she will have East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) MP Peter Mathuki as running mate.
The deal has been a product of months of negotiations between Wiper Party and Wavinya’s CCU party with Kalonzo said to have prevailed upon Mathuki and Machakos Deputy Governor Bernard Kiala to compromise their ambitions in favour of a ticket that would send Mutua home and win back the seat to the party.
Kiala who had also expressed interest for the seat, according to inside sources, refused an appeal from the party’s top echelon to back Wavinya/Mathuki line-up and be considered for a 30 percent stake in the county government if the two wins.
“Kiala has himself to blame. The offer on the table was that Wavinya runs with Mathuki and then they share power with Wavinya getting 40 percent stake while Mathuki and Kiala both sharing the 60 percent remaining on equal basis but he (Kiala) refused,” said a source who was part of the team that midwifed the deal.
Kalonzo however denied that the party will issue direct nomination certificate to Wavinya saying they will have to battle it with Kiala in the coming primaries.