Kimunya’s pomposity could cost Jubilee not just Kiambaa

One of the most enduring lessons from Communist Party of China’s (CPC) 100 years is that long-term stability of political parties is necessary for development. At a 2018 poverty alleviation forum, Jubilee Party Secretary-General Raphael Tuju reportedly cited CPC as an example of endurance. In fact, CPC officials attended the 2016 State House launch of Kenya’s ruling party as a “roll-up” of parties forming the Jubilee coalition from the 2013 election.

Over the years, under the personal support and guidance of China’s President Xi Jinping and President Uhuru Kenyatta, the China-Kenya comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership has seen rapid growth noticeable in the Sino-African cooperation. But even after Jubilee invested huge resources to benchmark in China, it will soon be in the cruel barrel of history if doesn’t tame errant party leaders who are quite determined to be party-poopers.

A case in point is Amos Muhinga Kimunya recent reckless remarks in Kiambaa Constituency, Kiambu County, which were seen as threats to the residents and have rattled the party leadership. The Kipipiri MP, regrettably also the National Assembly Majority Leader, remarked that the government would not allocate development funds to Kiambaa should the voters not elect the party’s candidate, Karanja Kariri.

For a man who was censured by the House in 2009 as a Cabinet minister with not a single MP rising to his defence, Kimunya is no stranger to controversy. At by-elections where Jubilee performed dismally, he issued threats and boasted that they would win.

I would rather die...

In Rurii Ward, Nyandarua, while campaigning for the Jubilee candidate, Kimunya was captured on video saying: “I am the Jubilee majority leader... Let us win this Rurii Ward by-election by 99 per cent so that those outsiders (UDA) trying to come here can be taught a lesson. Nyandarua is our home. If we lose in Rurii, I should just resign.”

Jubilee lost. Kimunya hung on. Remember, at the height of the probe into the sale of Grand Regency Hotel (now the Laico Regency) to a Libyan firm in 2008, by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chaired then by MP Boni Khalwale, he stated: “I would rather die than resign.” He would, in a dramatic turn of events, quit the Cabinet on July 8, 2008, just a few days after making the statement.

On his endorsement by Jubilee as Majority Leader last year, Kimunya was expected to lead the ruling coalition’s troops in the House but has already had several run-ins with other MPs mooting his impeachment. In the controversial cancellation of a contract to rehabilitate JKIA when he was Lands Minister, then-Belgut MP Charles Keter asked: “Why is it that every ministry he goes to there are issues?”

The political environment in which dictatorial parties operate implies an existence that is far more Hobbesian — nasty, brutish and short — than that of their democratic counterparts. Consequently, Jubilee must not allow the likes of Kimunya to lead the party to dictatorship.

Ms Ngunjiri is an economist and political analyst. [email protected]