Meet our demands or we sustain onslaught, Ruto allies tell Uhuru

Allies of Deputy President William Ruto yesterday offered a surprise political olive branch to President Uhuru Kenyatta if he meets six demands they have come up with.

The MPs, from Tangatanga group, said despite the fallout  between Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ruto, they were open to work with the Head of State ahead of 2022 polls as it is not too late.

They said the outcome of the recently held by-elections where Tangatanga allied political parties won against the Jubilee party is a clear message that the President has wrongly been reading the political pulse of the region's voters.

Dr Ruto linked United Democratic Alliance (UDA) won in Nakuru County’s London and Lakeview wards, while another of his supporters, Moses Kuria’s People Empowerment Party clinched the Gaturi ward (Murang’a), Rurii (Nyandarua) wards and Juja parliamentary seat in mini polls.

Mathira MP Rigathi Gachagua told the Saturday Nation that the President is liked in Mt Kenya and is only getting punished for mistakes that are committed by his advisers.

“That is why you will never hear us attack the President or say he has not meant well for us. But he is being punished in the by-elections for actions and utterances that emanate from characters like Jubilee Deputy vice-chair David Murathe and some other people.”

Tough conditions

Soy MP Caleb Kositany has been on record saying that nothing is impossible in Kenyan politics.

“It is still possible, if President Kenyatta is now hugging and talking with Embakasi East MP Babu Owino, somebody who insulted him and his family, why would deputy president who has never insulted him, supported him in 2002, 2013 and twice in 2017 not work with him again?” he posed, adding that there have been attempts to reconcile the Head of State and his deputy by some elders but they fell flat.

“The Ruto team in Mt Kenya has always wanted to negotiate with the President. Infact, they wanted to prove their muscle before they come to the table. I don’t think that will work,” said Nyeri Town MP Wambugu Ngunjiri.

The Ruto allies, however, issued tough conditions that Kieleweke and the President must meet to start talks.

Among others, the MPs want the President to call a meeting for all Jubilee elected leaders to have an honest discussion about the present and future. Further, they want the Kieleweke wing of Jubilee to stop the crackdown against DP allies both in the party and in government.

Other three conditions are that the Head of State calls off his troops that call themselves the Stop Dr Ruto Movement, abandon any “political project” aimed at attempting to decide the 2022 fate in politics and finally call off politically instigated police investigations against Tangatanga loyalists.

Retirement legacy

“The departure point between the President and the people of Mt Kenya was the incorporation of Raila Odinga into power via the Handshake and the bulldozed Building Bridges Initiative (BBI).

That must also be on the table, ” Mr Gachagua said.

“If he does so, we will be ready to partner with our President and help him rule in peace for the remaining one year and play a pivotal role in assembling for him a retirement legacy since he has none as of now,” Murang'a Senator Irungu Kang’ata said yesterday.

Similarly, Kandara MP Alice Wahome said the President should call a truce meeting and listen to the Tangatanga concerns on how to reverse the dictatorial rule that has become of Jubilee.

That discussion, the MP stated, should also entail issues on how skewed priorities by the government have affected people and work to mend the seclusion his government has accorded the region. 

“As it is, Mt Kenya voters are not through with punishing the government that they hold directly responsible for their escalated poverty levels owing to loss of livelihoods to the fight against counterfeits, beautifying Nairobi and Covid-19 where government policies ordered destruction of his (President’s) peoples’ imported merchandise, demolished their kiosks and business closures,” said Naivasha MP Jayne Kihara.

Nakuru Senator Susan Kihika said the major bone of contention between the President and Mt Kenya voters is that they feel shortchanged.

Making demands

“It is only Dr Ruto who can help him regain the mountain grip and we are ready if he is ready,” she said.

But allies of the President said it is the Tangatanga team that needs to be humble and return to the Jubilee fold.

“They are now realising that the President will start taking charge soon and they better be on the right side. But we will not accept any demands. No one chased them away and they can always come back as long as they support our agenda,” said Mr Ngunjiri.

Kiambu governor James Nyoro, who was among the campaigners of Jubilee in the Juja mini poll, termed the Tangatanga demands as short-lived.

"A year-and-a-half to the 2022 polls is an eternity in politics. The President was not in the contest and I wonder where they are drawing this fantasy of making demands,” the county boss said.

Aldai MP Cornelius Serem, another Ruto man, said even though they do not have any problem with reconciliation of the President and his deputy, rebuilding Jubilee Party remains a tall order, noting that a few individuals have held the party hostage.

“We cannot rebuild Jubilee because Murathe has declared that it belongs to them, what is the essence of rebuilding an individual party? …we do not know the cause of the rift between President and Ruto, any reconciliation attempt is welcomed,” he said.

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