Party rebels take on Uhuru, Raila and Ruto  

More defiant politicians are going against the wind, taking on party and regional political kingpins in their regions as the race for the 2022 General Election hots up.

And keen to ensure that their favourite presidential candidate does not lose support and has substantial numbers in various other seats were they to win the presidency, these regional kingpins are plotting to run strong candidates against the rebels to reclaim their turf.

President Uhuru Kenyatta, his estranged deputy William Ruto and Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) leader Raila Odinga are some of the most affected in this growing defiance as politicians from their backyard dare them to a fight in next year’s poll.

In the Rift Valley, Dr Ruto’s allies have started plans to hunt for strong candidates to run against leaders behind President Kenyatta in the 2022 elections.

On the other hand, Jubilee has targeted specific constituencies in Mt Kenya led by pro-Ruto MPs and are planning to appoint strong party constituency coordinators, open offices there, and prop up candidates against them, with the Head of State having all but confirmed his refusal to back his deputy in the polls.

Some of the leaders targeted in DP Ruto’s Rift Valley backyard are Jubilee deputy secretary-general Joshua Kutuny (Cherang’any), Uasin Gishu Senator and deputy Speaker Margaret Kamar, Alfred Keter (Nandi Hills), Silas Tiren (Moiben), William Chepkut (Ainabkoi), Swarup Mishra (Kesses), Elgeyo Marakwet Governor Alex Tolgos, and 2017 Uasin Gishu gubernatorial aspirant Zedekiah Bundotich (Buzeki).

In Baringo Senator Gideon Moi’s Kanu, there is a battle for West Pokot, considered the independence party’s last frontier, against Governor John Lonyangapuo, who last weekend announced plans to ditch the party, with Kanu now planning to pit him against his deputy Nicholas Atundonyang.

In the Coast region, Malindi MP Aisha Jumwa, now gunning for the Kilifi governor’s seat, leads ODM rebels now in DP Ruto’s camp.

Kilifi is an ODM zone — with all MPs having been elected on ODM tickets, and an ODM-controlled county assembly — and Ms Jumwa and an aggressive Dr Ruto want to take a piece of the 508,068 voters spread out in 988 polling stations.

In Nyanza, Migori Governor Okoth Obado has taken on Mr Odinga, announcing plans to ditch ODM and go back to his 2013 home, the Party for Development and Democracy (PDP), led by former assistant minister Omingo Magara.

Mr Obado went against the grain to beat an ODM wave in 2013.

Ugenya MP Dave Ochieng, of the Movement for Growth and Democracy Party, who beat an ODM-strong team in a 2019 by-election, is another man who has stood against an Odinga wave in Nyanza.

Yesterday, Dr Ruto’s allies, led by Kapseret MP Oscar Sudi, revealed that they will not entertain politicians who are against Dr Ruto’s 2022 State House bid.

“I urge our political nemeses in Rift Valley to either shape up or shape out. We shall not pay attention to your cheap propaganda to divide our community,” said Mr Sudi.

The outspoken lawmaker said the ‘rebels’ will be locked out of the DP-linked United Democratic Alliance (UDA), a party many believe DP Ruto will use as a political vehicle next year.

After being pushed to the wall in the Jubilee Party, the DP is planning to stamp his authority in his Rift Valley political turf in a bid to consolidate his base ahead of the 2022 General Election.

Dr Ruto’s camp has settled on Aldai MP Cornelius Serem and his Kapseret counterpart to warn those perceived as rebels that they are no longer spearheading the community’s interests but their own.

Elgeyo Marakwet Senator Kipchumba Murkomen and Soy MP Caleb Kositany have been left to handle the national arena.

Mr Serem told the Nation that politicians who do not support the DP’s 2022 State House bid will face an uphill task when they seek re-election, arguing that leaders from the Rift Valley had agreed that they were to drum up support for Dr Ruto.

“Anyone who is not supporting the DP for the presidency must know that they are heading to political oblivion. We must tell our people that these individuals led by Kutuny are lying to them hence they do not need backing in any seat,” Mr Serem said.

He accused those against the DP’s presidential quest of lying to the people, suggesting that when these politicians speak to voters, they claim they are backing Dr Ruto to woo them but while in Nairobi they make statements that undermine Dr Ruto.

Keiyo South MP Daniel Rono said: “We are yet to commence campaigns against them at the moment but they have to be scolded because DP Ruto is our community leader and those who do not support him are betraying the community and must be punished by not being elected.”

In Mt Kenya, Jubilee has zeroed in on Alice Wahome (Kandara), Ndindi Nyoro (Kiharu), Rigathi Gachagua (Mathira), Moses Kuria (Gatundu South) and Kimani Ichungwah (Kikuyu), with Mr Kutuny saying they are shopping for people to be unveiled as party officials in those areas to counter UDA’s moves.

“The party is going to have new officials now that some officials parted ways with Jubilee Party. We will announce it very soon,” Mr Kutuny told the Nation.

“We might have grassroots elections or harmonisation now that we have managed to get rid of the rebels, from every ward in every constituency to recruit new officials on an interim basis. Now we have begun shopping for good leaders in those constituencies.”

The Cherang’any MP added: “We will have interim officials in these constituencies: Kandara, Mathira, Kikuyu and Kiharu. Then in Mombasa County, we are just waiting for confirmation by the National Executive Committee, which will provide further guidelines.”

Ford-Kenya party leader Moses Wetang’ula is locked in a power struggle with Kanduyi MP Wafula Wamunyinyi and Tongaren MP Eseli Simiyu.

Musalia Mudavadi’s Amani National Congress has unsuccessfully tried to expel nominated MP Godfrey Osotsi, who has openly sided with Mr Odinga’s ODM.

In Kalonzo Musyoka’s Wiper, Makueni Governor Kivutha Kibwana, who joined Wiper in the run-up to the 2017 elections, has since resigned as party chairman and is campaigning for the presidency.

Prof Kibwana has often teamed up with fellow governors Charity Ngilu and Alfred Mutua to challenge the former vice-president for the region’s supremacy.

At the top of Jubilee party’s agenda is to revive its countrywide offices, establish county coordinators and embark on a mass recruitment drive to add to its claimed 8.25 million members.

Mr Kutuny said the party has set itself an August 2021 deadline to reclaim its dwindling political grip in the country even as he attacked the DP for what he said was championing unity elsewhere yet practising dictatorship in the Rift Valley.

“There is no way Ruto will keep on attacking President Uhuru Kenyatta and Raila Odinga on national unity but when he comes home, he incites those on the ground against some of us,” Mr Kutuny told the Nation, adding that tribal politics and individual profiling are barbaric.

“We will not be cowed. Consultations are in top gear on a formidable force in the region which will be unveiled very soon to counter that faction of the DP.” 

The ruling party has also identified 25 counties - including Trans Nzoia, Uasin Gishu and Mombasa - where they want to establish active offices that will help with member registration among other activities. This, they say, will give the grassroots a say in the running of the party, much like the strategy used by the party’s rival UDA.

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