Mt Kenya leaders deny Uhuru succession talks

Politicians on both sides of the divide reacted sharply to reports that Mt Kenya leaders will only settle for the Presidency in the next elections.

Jubilee Vice-Chairman David Murathe denied the reports adding that the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) is keen to give smaller tribes an opportunity to lead the country, a departure from the current dominance by populous communities.

His remarks came a day after reports that a caucus of Central Kenya MPs who met at Thika Greens hotel on Friday proposed that the region should consider fielding a presidential candidate in the next General Election after President Uhuru Kenyatta.

“Nothing could be further from the truth. Through the BBI, we are out to stop the hegemony of big tribes. What then happens to the other 42 communities if a Kikuyu will be handing over power to their own or to a Kalenjin each time there is a transition?” he said.

Mr Murathe cast doubt on prospects of such an agenda at the meeting saying that even if it was the case, the Interior PS Karanja Kibicho would not preside over a sitting of that nature.

“It was a meeting to review development projects of the region… As part of the push to break away from the trodden path, we are pushing to have former Prime Minister Raila Odinga to succeed President Kenyatta. An agenda like that would be inconsistent with that push,” Mr Murathe said.

Revenue Sharing formula

Kieni MP Kanini Kega and Nyeri Town MP denied politics was discussed with Mr Kega saying that it was a “meet and greet.”

“The president has been visiting other areas and it’s only natural he visits our region. There are roads and the railway he will commission. You will also note that the Revenue Sharing formula taught us deep lessons. There are people who have been claiming to be our friends but they abandoned us at the hour of need,” said Mr Kega.

A Tangatanga MP who wished not to be named said they will walk out if the agenda will include discussing Deputy President in bad light.

The second leg of the Murang’a meeting planned for next Friday is expected to be bigger since a number of Tangatanga MPs initially sceptical of the first one seem to have been assured that the aim is to discuss issues affected central Kenya without necessarily delving into succession politics. TSP leader Mwangi Kiunjuri welcomed the meeting of Mt Kenya leaders.

“It is good for us to unite but we must remember to keep our promises. We as a community cannot afford to be selfish and isolate ourselves from the rest of the country otherwise we can’t be trusted. Let us unite but note that Kenya is for all of us,” said Mr Mwangi Kiunjuri.

President Kenyatta is reportedly concerned that a divided central is not good for his legacy projects and has instructed the Interior ministry to lead the house keeping effort to bridge the Tangatanga-Kieleweke divide.

In the meeting, leaders from the differing Kieleweke and Tangatanga factions were requested to cease fire when addressing issues dealing with President Kenyatta’s agenda.

They said that competition between Kieleweke and Tangatanga had obscured President Kenyatta’s development agenda in the region.

Tangatanga are lawmakers allied to the Deputy President William Ruto and Kieleweke group supports Mr Kenyatta and the handshake with ODM leader Mr Odinga. While the backlash from the camps of the DP and Mr Odinga, who are separately banking on the vote rich region to win the presidency, led to a number of politicians disowning the story, the narrative that is slowly gaining currency is that mount Kenya will go it alone if need be.

“The people of Mount Kenya are not children of a lesser God. We are also Kenyans,” a senior leader in the National Assembly from the region insisted.

Road projects

The meetings are part of the ground preparations for the anticipated visit by President Kenyatta in the region. Having launched multi-billion road projects in the region a while back, the president will be there to inspect progress.

The projects are being undertaken in the back drop of perceived lukewarm support for the president as that of his deputy skyrockets.

Kieleweke adherents will be hoping that the president’s visit, when it comes, will wipe out the support Dr Ruto enjoys.

President Kenyatta has repeatedly said that he will make extensive tour of the region to advise his support base on the political path they will take when his term in office comes to an end.

 While it has been coached as development oriented meeting, echoes of 2022 and succession are not far away especially when the BBI report is to be released in the coming weeks.

The event started with a formal meeting which lasted an hour or so. The main speakers were Embu Senator Njeru Ndwiga who spoke on behalf of the Senate, Majority Leader Amos Kimunya who represented National Assembly members and Interior PS Karanja Kibicho, who rallied the leaders to support President Uhuru Kenyatta.

After the formal meeting, the leaders broke to an informal setting in which they openly discussed issues affecting the region and the 2022 politics where the issue of their seven million votes was widely discussed.

2022 presidential election

The first issue which came up was how the region was responding to Deputy President William Ruto and ODM leader Raila Odinga’s efforts to get Mt Kenya votes.

Some of the leaders queried if both Dr Ruto and Mr Odinga had provided proposals on how they will cater to the interests of the region if any of them wins the 2022 presidential election.

Some of the leaders argued that it was oppressive for Mt Kenya region to be told that they should not field a presidential candidate despite having numbers to do so.

Leaders who attended the meeting have told Sunday Nation that they cannot just donate their seven million vote bloc to leaders from other regions without any safeguards.

The meeting deliberated on how interests of Mount Kenya could be catered for if by now, two years to the next general election, they did not have a presidential candidate or a leading leader to rally behind.

Some of the leaders argued that it was oppressive for the expansive Mt Kenya region to be told that they should not field a presidential candidate despite them having numbers to do so.