For Youssouf  who held lengthy meetings with Kenyan President William Ruto and Foreign Affairs Minister Musalia Mudavadi in August and October to discuss his candidacy in Nairobi  having the contacts could trump name recognition...
	 
    
    
    
    
        
	
	     Gachagua has been steadily marginalised over the past 18 months  with the portfolio of Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi expanding to include the foreign ministry (AC Vol 65 No 6  It's the politics that counts)...
	 
    
    
    
    
        
	
	     Since then  Ruto and his Prime Cabinet Secretary and Foreign Minister Musalia Mudavadi have been using diplomatic visits to tout Odinga's candidacy and State House officials claim to already have 25 votes  including the eight-member East African Community...
	 
    
    
    
    
        
	
	     Musalia Mudavadi  Ruto's closest ally in government and  as prime cabinet secretary  the only minister not to be sacked in July  the most obvious choice to replace him...
	 
    
    
    
			
        
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            Vol 65 No 16 | 
            - CONGO-KINSHASA
 
        
        
		
        
        
    
        
	
	     The row saw Kenya Airways briefly suspend its flights to Kinshasa  though a diplomatic mission by Kenya's Foreign Minister Musalia Mudavadi in May appeared to have repaired that damage...
	 
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	     After dismissing his government  with the exception of Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi  who also serves as Foreign Minister  and Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua  whose position is protected by the constitution  Ruto announced that a week of talks would start on 15 July aimed at forming a ‘broad-based' unity government...
	 
    
    
    
    
        
	
	     His aggressive attempts to force Luhya leaders Musalia Mudavadi  whose Amani National Congress party Malala defected from  and Moses Wetangula to merge their parties into the UDA – comparing himself to John the Baptist in the process – has been received poorly...
	 
    
    
    
    
        
	
	     The UDA could become close to a one-party state if Musalia Mudavadi and Moses Wetangula  the two Luhya leaders whose switch to the Ruto camp was decisive in the President's election  agree to fold their Amani National Congress and Ford-Kenya parties into the UDA (AC Vol 64 No 6  The one-party state bounces back)...
	 
    
    
    
    
        
	
	     As he does so  Ruto has centralised foreign policy and diplomacy in the hands of State House and Musalia Mudavadi  his Prime Cabinet Secretary who had the foreign ministry added to his portfolio last October (AC Vol 64 No 21  Ruto's reshuffle rewards the technocrats)...
	 
    
    
    
    
        
	
	     As it stands  Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi is most likely to have his de facto prime minister job made formal...
 Rumours that he would be dropped from the 2027 ticket began within months of him taking office in 2022 and intensified last October when Ruto added the Foreign Ministry to Musalia Mudavadi's Prime Cabinet Secretary Portfolio...