Is Moses Kuria the next big thing? 

There is no doubt Thika was on the political spotlight yesterday. That was where Moses Kuria, the Gatundu South MP, was throwing a party.

Kuria is volatile, outspoken, unpredictable, intemperate, rude and not infrequently vulgar in his public utterances. 

Other politicians have learned to be careful when dealing with him. He is like a time bomb that can blow up unexpectedly in your face. 

His loyalties are never certain. Those he deals with invariably cry of trust issues. They say he runs with the hare and hunts with the hounds. His detractors call him "kigeugeu." 

The Thika event was to mark Kuria's homecoming from a lengthy medical sojourn in Dubai after his feet got scorched in a freak accident. It was billed as a prayer-cum-thanksgiving meeting but everybody was looking forward to a full-blown political rally. 

The MP had hyped his return like it was the Second Coming of Jesus. Big shots from William Ruto to Raila Odinga to Kalonzo Musyoka to God-knows-who-else were invited. 

Paid TV advertisements about the homecoming were being regularly aired days before, with the familiar, 'aching' music of Michael Bolton humming in the background. 

Ahead of his return, there was hot speculation about Kuria's plans. The MP himself fed the speculation skilfully. On his social media pages he posted photos he had taken with Cabinet secretaries Peter Munya and Mutahi Kagwe, who had accompanied President Uhuru Kenyatta for the Dubai 2020 Expo last week. Kuria also reportedly had a discreet meeting with the President. 

Furious speculation

Back home, there was furious speculation on what political deals, if any, were being cut in Dubai on the sidelines of the 2020 Expo. Kuria fuelled the gossip further when he posted photos of himself with Raila's son, Raila Junior, who happened to be in Dubai too. 

A fortnight earlier, Ruto and his favourite travelling companion, Kapseret MP Oscar Sudi, had visited Kuria in hospital. Kuria again posted the photos. 

It wasn't clear whether the Deputy President and Sudi had come to Dubai to see Kuria specifically or they were on some other undisclosed mission.

Again, there was another round of frenzied speculation that maybe Kuria had been offered certain carrots to stick with UDA. 

The anticipation was that Kuria would make his political stand known at his Thika function, whatever stand that would be. Would he support the Kenya Kwanza Alliance, or Azimio? Or would he opt to go on his own? 

It's best never to predict what Kuria will do or say. He's full of surprises. He's been saying he wants to concentrate on building his young party, Chama Cha Kazi (CCK). It's true he will not be defending his Gatundu South seat in this election cycle. But what about the Kiambu gubernatorial seat? His name has featured regarding that. Would he declare in Thika? 

Whatever the case, it's bizarre to expect Kuria, of all people, to remain detached amid the excitement of an electioneering period. He'll always seek to make waves wherever he can. And Kuria being Kuria, the temptation to pick sides will be irresistible. Undeniably, he has a following in the Mt Kenya region, especially among the disaffected youth. One purpose of staging the Thika rally was to show off that strength. 

From being a card-carrying Tangatanga member, Kuria (supposedly) broke up with Ruto when the DP insisted he wouldn't sign coalition deals with “tribal, village parties” from Mt Kenya. The targets were Kuria's CCK and Mwangi Kiunjuri's The Service Party. 

'Hustler nation' slogan

But did Kuria really sever ties with the 'Hustler' movement? From his hospital bed, he had been taking potshots through his social media posts at both Tangatanga and Kieleweke – in equal measure. 

He recently savaged Azimio la Umoja as "a bad idea, fronted by the wrong people, for all the wrong reasons". On the other hand he ridiculed his erstwhile fellow Mt Kenya Tangatangas for selling themselves short by allowing themselves to be herded blind into UDA minus a party of their own that would give them bargaining power.

Musalia Mudavadi and Moses Wetang'ula had the sense to hold onto their parties to negotiate with on their terms. Pathetic, Kuria intimated, for with no bargaining power, you have zero leverage. The Mt Kenya Tangatanga leader, Mathira MP Rigathi Gachagua, has on many occasions been interviewed saying that they are not looking for positions in an UDA government! Wah! 

With all his volatility, Kuria has some key things he agrees on with Jubilee. The most important is the principle of fair representation and equitable resource allocation. Yet the Tangatanga politics he was involved in made him oppose BBI, which was enshrining that principle in the Constitution. 

I'm told one of Kuria's unresolved issues with UDA is over the 'Hustler nation' slogan, which he reportedly considers his brainchild. He grumbles that the catchphrase was misappropriated from him. His gripe with Uhuru, who is Kuria's Gatundu South constituent, originated earlier. At one point the rift got almost personal, but matters have been clearly on the mend.

Kuria was being plain dishonest when he used to disparage the President's development record in Mt Kenya. It's bad when you think you are being disregarded. Kuria misses the days when the President would engage him and the likes of Kiunjuri easily and sociably. He would complain that when the President's second term set in, "he retreated back to his old St Mary's School alumni circles."

Mmm...class issues, those. At other times Kuria would bluntly say that his Big Name constituent is just doing stuff wrongly. 

'Mutha', as his friends call him, can be many things. However, he's nobody's fool.

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My rural MP, Mary Wamaua, has chosen to defect to UDA. I refuse to be judgemental about her. 

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