Central Kenya elders differ over Raila, Ruto support 

President Uhuru Kenyatta's cousin Kung'u Muigai (left) and National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi when they met Kikuyu elders and endorsed Deputy President William Ruto for the presidency in Nyeri on July 18, 2022

Photo credit: Joseph Kanyi I Nation Media Group

Agikuyu Council of Elders chairman Wachira Wa Kiago has dismissed President Uhuru Kenyatta’s cousin Kung’u Muigai’s claims that the community would rally behind Deputy President William Ruto in the August 9 polls.

Mr Kiago and Kiama Kiama chairman Patrick Gaithuma said Mr Muigai’, President Kenyatta's first cousin who has been posing as the elders’ patron, was a “masquerader who has been lying to the Kenya Kwanza presidential candidate that the community will support him in the forthcoming poll”.

Mr Kiago and Mr Gaithuma’s remarks come as the battle for Central Kenya votes between the Azimio la Umoja One Kenya coalition led by Mr Raila Odinga and Dr Ruto’s Kenya Kwanza continues to divide the Kikuyu Council of Elders, which is supposed to give direction to the community.

Mr Muigai on Monday led a group of about 700 “elders” from four Central Kenya counties at the Kabiruini showground in Nyeri County to “endorse” Dr Ruto’s presidential bid. But Dr Ruto, who was supposed to attend the event, failed to show up and was represented by National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi.

Mr Muturi, who caused a row among the elders last year when he was controversially installed as a spokesperson of the Kikuyu community by a faction led by Mr Muigai at the Mukurwe wa Nyathanga shrine in Murang'a, explained the DP's absence, saying he was attending a series of international press conferences in Nairobi,

Mr Muigai recently led another group to pledge loyalty to DP Ruto at his Karen residence, saying they were afraid of being haunted for breaching an “oath” that was allegedly administered by elders from the Kalenjin and Kikuyu communities in 2013 that sought to bind the Kikuyu to support Dr Ruto after Kenyatta term expires.  

On Monday, at the Kabiruini showground, Mr Muigai said: “There are some individuals who stay in Nairobi claiming to be Kikuyu Council of Elders. I challenge them to come to the grassroots and see these 1,500 elders. 

“We are not forcing anybody to follow a certain political formation. They should be probed on who they really are and whom they lead. Recently, I took 1,200 elders to Karen to meet the Deputy President.”

Mr Muigai said he was part of a group that met at the Kenyatta family’s Gicheha farm in Nakuru County in the run-up to the 2013 elections and it was allegedly agreed that Dr Ruto would “take over” from President Kenyatta once his two terms end. 

But his claims were disputed by Mr Kiago and Mr Gaithuma, who said Mr Muigai was not even qualified to attend such meetings because he had not been admitted to the council of elders. His sentiments were echoed by Mr Muturi, who said the interests of the community would be served best under a Kenya Kwanza government.

Soon after the Monday ceremony, a group led by Mr Kiago and Mr Gaithuma, who said they were bona fide Kikuyu community leaders, dismissed Mr Muigai as a “fraud” who was out to mislead the Kikuyu community for personal gain.

The duo said Mr Muigai was a “nobody in the leadership of the Kikuyu community who even didn’t warrant our response”. 

Mr Kiago and Mr Gaithuma said the Kikuyu community were solidly behind Mr Odinga and his running mate Martha Karua because the Azimio formation had assured them they would take care of the community’s interests once they formed the government.

“This man doesn't even warrant our response. The Kikuyu council of elders is an organisation that is fully registered by the government. We have a registration certificate. We are the true owners of the title, but Mr [Muigai] is not in our records. He is not even a member of the council. What he is doing is personal and has nothing to do with us,” Mr Kiago said.

Mr Kiago described Mr Muigai as a “disgrace” to the Kikuyu community for washing the Kenyatta family’s dirty linen in public and purporting to be speaking on behalf of the Kikuyu community.

“We have sat down as a council and we have given direction to the community. We know where our community is safe,” he said. 

“Whatever [Mr Muigai] says is his personal opinion which is meant to serve his personal interest and not that of the community. Our community will be served well in an Azimio government. We know what we are doing and we cannot mislead our people.”

Mr Gaithuma, for his part, dismissed Mr Muigai as a “young boy” who has no mandate to speak on behalf of the Kikuyu community.

In 2020, a delegation of the Kikuyu council of elders visited Mr Odinga’s rural home in Bondo, Siaya County, where they pledged to support him in his presidential bid. 

The meeting preceded another that was held at the Kabiruini grounds in Nyeri where the elders reiterated that Mr Odinga was their preferred candidate.