Uphill task to choose a party for Kahiga as deadline nears

Nyeri Governor Mutahi Kahiga is facing an uphill task as he shops for a party on which to defend his seat in August with his reported move to United Democratic Alliance (UDA) now seemingly in doubt.

The Jubilee Party governor late last year hinted at switching to UDA and his recent dalliance with Deputy President William Ruto testifies to such a possibility.

However, the Nation has learnt that Mr Kahiga has not made his move to UDA official. He’s keeping his cards close to his chest regarding his next move.

“Let me not comment on that at the moment,” Mr Kahiga told the Nation. A political débutante, Mr Kahiga joined politics as deputy to former Governor Wahome Gakuru. He took over the reins following the death of Mr Gakuru one month into their term in office.

Scathing attacks

Mr Kahiga has burned bridges with his party Jubilee, recently dishing out scathing attacks on Azimio La Umoja and its leader Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) supremo Raila Odinga.

With an alliance between Jubilee and ODM imminent, Mr Kahiga will find himself in hostile territory if he remains in Jubilee and is looking for a way out, it has emerged. But his next political move could be a complicated and calculated risk.

This is because, even though joining UDA is viewed as the most likely move, he will have to battle it out at the nominations with the party’s point man and top official in the county.

Nyeri County UDA chairperson and coordinator Wahome Wa Matinga has already declared his interest to be governor and is unlikely to welcome Mr Kahiga’s bid.

The engineer, who is a close ally of Mathira MP Rigathi Gachagua and the Constituency Development Fund chairperson, has criticised the governor’s alleged overtures to worm his way into UDA.

“First of all, Kahiga is not a member of UDA officially. As it stands, I’m the only UDA member running for governor and I’m not stepping aside for newcomers,” Mr Wahome told the Nation.

The engineer has been the UDA point man in Nyeri, responsible for recruitment and popularisation. He dismissed talk of a plan to deputise Governor Kahiga.

“I’ve spent my time and resources building and popularising UDA in Nyeri so anyone who thinks I’ll just roll over is mistaken. Anyone is welcome to join UDA but just know that this is my house and be prepared for a real battle if you want the party ticket,” Mr Wahome said.

The governor is also struggling to fight off the fence-sitter label.

It’s still not clear where his loyalty lies as he’s undecided on which presidential aspirant to support. He has been quoted, saying, every presidential hopeful is welcome to negotiate with Nyeri people and has held talks with all aspirants.

It is this same policy that leaves many guessing with Mr Kahiga appearing to be cosying up to all the aspirants except Mr Odinga, whom he has rejected outright.

Besides holding talks with DP Ruto at his Karen residence two weeks ago, he has previously held talks with Amani National Coalition (ANC) leader Musalia Mudavadi during a past tour of the region.

“The governor needs to make a decisive stand. He needs to make up his mind if he is joining UDA or not,” Mr Wahome said. The governor is also faced with the task of picking a new deputy after falling out with Dr Caroline Karugu.

Mr Kahiga’s attempt at mending fences with Dr Karugu hit a brick wall last month when she rebuffed his peace offering.

Calls for truce

After being embroiled in dispute for over two years, the latest being in court, Mr Kahiga made an attempt to fix things with his deputy, to no avail.

Dr Karugu, who is also a member of Raila Odinga’s campaign secretariat, rejected calls for truce and is expected to ditch the administration ahead of August polls.

With the deadline to switch parties fast approaching, Mr Kahiga finds himself at crossroads and with difficult choices to make.

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