Devolution Cabinet Secretary Eugene Wamalwa had been picked by President Uhuru Kenyatta as running mate in 2012, few months to 2013 polls, Cherangany MP Joshua Kutuny has claimed.
It took a last minute intervention by the former advisor to Uhuru to convince him to drop the idea since he had planned to travel to Western Kenya the following day to unveil Mr Wamalwa.
In an interview with KTN's Point Blank, Kutuny, one of the strategists behind URP-TNA merger, also revealed that DP William Ruto had travelled to the Coast to unveil Chirau Ali Makwere as his deputy.
“I personally thwarted the separate arrangements the two leaders had. I convinced Uhuru not to go to Bungoma. I insisted that he needed to have another meeting with Ruto,” the lawmaker said.
“We (technical committee) had to urgently come up with a formula,” said Kutuny.
Both Uhuru and Ruto had struggled to strike a deal and time was running out for the two teams, who were set to meet a much organised Raila Odinga, then the Prime Minister.
As fate would have it, Kutuny added, he managed to convince the two to run together, with Ruto, who was set to be URP presidential flag bearer, settling to deputise Uhuru in a dramatic version.
“My group was in Mombasa waiting for me, they were shocked to see the breaking news that I had endorsed Uhuru for president and Ruto for deputy president in Narok. That was the turning point,” he revealed.
After the polls in which Jubilee coalition carried the day, Kutuny, who had lost his Cherangany seat, was picked by the President as his political advisor.
For Eugene, he had to wait for two years, until 2015 to be appointed to cabinet. Last year, he was among cabinet ministers who managed to make it back after Uhuru's re-election.