Mwangi Kiunjuri: Mistakes that could cost William Ruto Mt Kenya votes

Former Agriculture CS Festus Mwangi Kiunjuri believes the Deputy President William Ruto has the pulse of Mount Kenya region but is committing ‘small mistakes’ that might in the end cost him the ultimate prize unless he corrects them.

Falling short of saying it got to a point President Uhuru Kenyatta refused to pick his calls or meet him, he says he saw his sacking coming in the corridors of power and that things happened so fast.

“He did (show me) through his body language that my time was up,” he reveals. In an Interview with our writer JUSTUS WANGA yesterday, he said that going forward, every mistake the DP makes benefits a buoyant Raila Odinga, his main competitor in the State House race later this year. Here are excerpts.

Many observers have concluded that the presidential contest has shaped up into a two-horse race between Deputy President William Ruto and ODM chief Raila Odinga, do you agree and where do you stand?

The past three years have been a one-man show; but in the past four months, we have seen Azimio camp coming up, with Raila Odinga hitting the ground running and eventually being declared a presidential candidate. The fact is, these are two strong people with wide national appeal. This gives them an advantage over others. William Samoei Ruto has been known as a presidential candidate when he jointly ran with President Kenyatta in 2013 and 2017 and, to an extent, he has campaigned as a presidential candidate for a long time, which gives him a major advantage. Raila has been a presidential candidate four times and, therefore, is well connected and established. I can say that, so far, it is a two-horse race but, again, anything can happen; miracles happen. Nature and other eventualities can work to the advantage of other candidates.

Of the two, who will carry the day in Mt Kenya?

Mt Kenya people are farmers and entrepreneurs, and they cannot just be enticed by the colourful language. That you can give us a stipend, wheelbarrow, bottom-up economy—that’s not enough. No, our people are very alert. Therefore, the first person to touch the heart of Mt Kenya region will be the person who will properly address their issues. A manifesto that touches on agriculture. We have been very clear; we have a ten-point agenda for those who want our vote. We have been very categorical as The Service Party of Kenya (TSP) that you must first address the issue of one-man, one-vote and one-shilling. There is no taxation without representation. Resources in this country are [distributed based on] how areas are represented. Therefore, when we talk of representation as Mt Kenya people, what we are asking for is equal voice and rights. With opportunity and voice, we can articulate [our] issues in Parliament and be heard. It is Parliament that distributes resources; it makes laws, supervises and oversights all institutions. So, when you deny us numbers, you deny us our rights, our share of resources, and our voices. Therefore, any person who will come up with an elaborate policy on how we can rejuvenate agriculture, processing, and manufacturing, will carry the day.

Allies of DP Ruto say the mountain is his to lose, that he is more or less the Central Kenya kingpin, what is your take on this?

The DP is a frontrunner in Mt Kenya region and he has a lot of traction. He was properly introduced and given a free hand to move around the region by Uhuru Kenyatta. He has endeared himself to the people in the region and that gives him a head-start.

Secondly, the people of Mt Kenya region felt indebted in one way or another in that he helped their son to become President and that alone has really endeared him. He also went ahead to make friends and has his own grassroots people, that is not a candidate you can ignore. That gives him a real head-start against Raila Odinga and his other opponents. However, you must remember that nobody is perfect in this world. Just like Raila Odinga who has three to five percent in Mt Kenya region, even if you try to fight him, he still has his people in the region.

The issue is whether he can sustain [the support] or not and this will depend on how he will play his politics. He has chosen to ignore the leaders when it comes to his campaigns and has not been able to say if he is working with any of them. He is lucky that none of them is fighting him; in fact, all respectable Mt Kenya leaders have not fought him, even those he has fought, have not fought back.

That gives him that comfort of being the frontrunner in the Mt Kenya region. The question is whether he will be able to weather that storm on his own. Remember Raila Odinga came and the first thing he did was to go to all the leaders in the region. Much as you would like to ignore them, there is no community that does not have its leaders.

When the deputy President announced that he was not going to work with any leaders, that he is not tribal ... my friend, the other day, I went to look up the meaning of ethnicity and I discovered that Germans are an ethnic community, the French are another one, the English, the Black Americans. It is a very wide thing. The word “tribal” is almost the same. When you look it up, it will tell you that it is a group of people who associate together, whether in an economic activity, socially, regionally and often, they all belong to a family or clan.

Moreover, every family has a leader, same for a clan, and a community too. When you talk about despising others, you start hurting the feelings of your supporters, I have my 5,000 to 10,000 people who can be paid by those whom you call tribal and you lose those people. I want to remind you that in 2013, Uhuru won by 8,000 votes, the popular vote. That is what Raila has seen that my friend DP Ruto has not. Another thing, [the DP] has been on record castigating Raila, claiming that [the former prime minister] always despises [Amani National Congress leader] Musalia Mudavadi and [Ford Kenya leader Moses] Wetang’ula yet, he himself is despising the leaders of Mt Kenya. Those are some of the issues that I do not think his [strategists]have looked at. Those small bits can cost him. [Dr Ruto] despises Mt Kenya leaders and has decided to eclipse them. Those small things can cost him dearly. Look at what happened in Kirinyaga County. [Woman Rep Purity]Ngirici’s heart is pained. Do you want to tell me that Ngirici cannot influence some 5,000 people? She can influence much more than that. [Dr Ruto] should put his house in order. When the time comes and we want to form coalitions, we shall sit down. We are open to discussion.  Raila has been demonised in the mountain for ages, do you think he stands a chance there? Nothing is impossible. Raila can definitely penetrate Mt Kenya. How far can he go? That is the big question. That will depend on the number of missteps that the DP will make in the region.

Who is TSP supporting for President?

We do not have a presidential candidate for now. Our main agenda is fielding candidates across the country for all positions except the presidency.

We are going to open negotiations in March and not earlier. We want people to have their own freedom, do their campaigns, to have their own territories so that, when we sit at the negotiating table, we respect each other and nobody will tell you to step down. Secondly, we are not keen on discussing coalitions before the elections. We might be comfortable if it comes before elections but our main agenda is to have that discussion post-election.

What if you got a suitable presidential flagbearer?

It is very clear that we are not ready for that and we do not want to just do it for fun. We are a young party, we agreed that we have our own strengths and weaknesses and therefore cannot go biting more than we can chew.

Do not just declare a presidential candidate for the sake of doing so. If we get say 10 MPs in this election, can we get 15 in the next, then 20, then 40 and we grow even more? TSP is a party for the future. If you look at developed countries, how old is the Labour Party? The Conservative Party, the Republican Party and Democratic Party of America? It is patience; it is only in this country that parties are used as vehicles for elections because we are in a hurry.

Do you regret your decision to step down from the Laikipia gubernatorial race in 2017 on the President’s request only to be sacked by him as a minister later?

I do not regret the decision. You never know what would have happened had I become the Laikipia governor. In addition, I still gained a lot of experience in the two years I served as the Agriculture minister. I may not have gathered the experience I did and in terms of expanding my horizon; I gained a lot being a minister than I would have as Laikipia governor. My passion is in agriculture and achieved a lot during my tenure as a minister. What we did not achieve, I already know how to fix. Again, if I am to vie for any position, I will not be starting from scratch. I cannot say I regret the move. At times, I thought I regretted the move but the benefits that came with it were immense.

But from the way you protested, you must have felt betrayed, hurt.

He hurt me, hindered my progress as a human being, and injured my career. Had I continued to be a minister, I would have gained even more experience. . It was a major loss but again, it opened another opportunity because had I been serving the government, I would not have established a strong party called TSP. So, count your blessings! Whenever one door closes, another opens.

The only issue that pained me is that there was no explanation given when I was fired. Still, I also thank the President because he was not malicious; had he been so, he would have gone out there and shared with the public why he fired me, and that is why I respect Uhuru Kenyatta. I respect him because even today, he has never told Kenyans why he fired me, meaning he has his own personal issues that he does not want to share with them. You know, you can even deny your own brother an opportunity to work in your business and that does not mean you hate each other. For me, as long as he has never said anything ... because if I had been incompetent, he would have told Kenyans I am incompetent. Had it been I was insubordinate, he would said so. Up to date, he has respected me and I have respected him. I am not bitter. Let it be said that President Kenyatta stopped my bid to run for governor of Laikipia, gave me work, fired me so that God’s ways and blessings could befall me.

Did the president inform you in advance about it or did you just learn of your sacking like any other Kenyan or the Moi style when a minister would get such news over the radio?

He did, through his body language (chuckles). I could tell but we continue being good friends until the last day, even now.

Have you met him since you left the cabinet?

No.

What is this mistake you did that could not be solved and only called for your firing?

I am a very independent person. The President and the DP were both my friends and I could not do anything to betray either of them. I do not want to say I was fired because of Dr Ruto, maybe it was just part of the reasons, but not the entire reason.

Were you required to betray Dr Ruto on an issue?

I cannot tell that I was fired because of supporting Dr Ruto. I was appointed to cabinet by President Kenyatta and I know there is perception out there that Dr Ruto had a hand in my appointment. Let the confusion end, I was appointed by [the President]. I owe a lot of gratitude to President Kenyatta. Before my appointment, he had asked me to be part of his team at TNA [The National Alliance party] as organising secretary. He also named me the chairperson of Athi Water Works Development Agency in 2015.

Then could it be that you were brought on board by the President but started casting your lot with the DP afterward and that may have offended him?

Dr Ruto has been my friend, we campaigned together and we became good friends.

Then what really happened between you and the President that led to the eventual fall out?

I have been very clear minded. On issues on how I align myself, it has been very clear, I was in GNU [Grand National Union party] and even today, GNU is part of the Jubilee coalition. Therefore, it was not a favour to join the government; I joined because GNU was part of the Jubilee administration. Uhuru appointed me and part of the reason for my appointment was because GNU was part of the Jubilee coalition. Our working relationship was cordial all through. My relationship with Dr Ruto ... we are very good friends to date. We agree on so many issues, we are both aggressive and he is a good person to work with.

Or were you collateral damage for the clip-Ruto’s-wings brigade, what is sometimes called the deep state?

There have been a lot of such talk, but again, where there is smoke, there must be fire. We cannot keep dealing with the past. There is the present and the future. We have shaken the dust and decided to move on.

Tomorrow in the Sunday Nation: Why Kiunjuri turned down an offer to be the United Democratic Alliance secretary general, fallout between DP Ruto and Mt Kenya parties, the possibility of working with the DP and plans for Limuru Three