Kibwezi West MP Mwengi Mutuse during a Public Accounts Committee hearing at Parliament Buildings in Nairobi in July last year.
As Kenyans struggle to come to terms with the planned impeachment of Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, attention has shifted to Kibwezi West MP Mwengi Mutuse who set the ball rolling yesterday.
The first-term MP elected on a Maendeleo Chap Chap party ticket and who is not new to controversy, was on Monday basking in the glory of the planned impeachment after 291 MPs backed the bid to remove Mr Gachagua from office.
A lawyer and an advocate of the High Court, Mr Mutuse shot to the limelight during the reign of former Machakos Governor Alfred Mutua. He was the Machakos County Chief of Staff during Dr Mutua's two terms. Mr Mutuse fought incessant claims of high-handedness and racketeering during that time.
As he campaigned ahead of the 2022 General Election, Mr Mutuse kept revisiting his days at the University of Nairobi and the re-election of former President Mwai Kibaki when he was among the key figures in the “Kibaki Tena” campaign.
Way before he joined national politics, Mr Mutuse served as a student leader at the University of Nairobi. Thanks to this leadership position his path crossed with that of former Makueni Governor Kivutha Kibwana who was among activists at the centre of campaigns to root out President Daniel arap Moi. The student leadership position also exposed the youthful Mr Mutuse to the high echelons of President Kibaki's administration after Dr Mutua, who was then the Government Spokesperson, picked him to be his personal assistant.
Their friendship intensified at the advent of devolution after Dr Mutua hired Mr Mutuse after he lost the 2012 Kibwezi West parliamentary bid.
Just like Dr Mutua and Prof Kibwana and former Kitui Governor Charity Ngilu, Mr Mutuse has organised his politics around criticising Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka. The MP does not hesitate to explain that their rivalry is purely political. Mr Mutuse is the only MP in Makueni County who is leaning towards President William Ruto. He harbours presidential ambitions and this has exposed him to intense backlash in the region dominated by Mr Musyoka.
“Brace yourself for a battle royale as I try to make President William Ruto a one-term president for the sake of this country,” Mr Musyoka told Mr Mutuse when they last shared a forum in March.
Mr Musyoka accuses Mr Mutuse of undermining him. The former vice-president believes that the MP would have lost the seat if he had not identified with the Azimio coalition during the campaign period. During that time, Mr Mutuse was the face of a faction of Maendeleo Chap Chap Party which openly identified with the Azimio coalition as Dr Mutua led a second faction which openly campaigned for Dr Ruto. Three days to the 2022 election, Mr Mutuse was among six Makueni MP candidates who secured Mr Musyoka's endorsement at a public rally held at Wote Town. He set tongues wagging when he decamped from the Azimio camp shortly after President Ruto floored Raila Odinga.
“When I was campaigning, I pledged the tarmacking of key roads and other major projects. Such projects cannot be realised while I am in the opposition,” Mr Mutuse would explain the decision to ditch the Azimio coalition.
When President Ruto toured Kibwezi West Constituency to mark the start of the National Tree Planting Day at Kiu Wetlands, Mr Mutuse stunned businessman James Mbaluka, his 2022 challenger on a UDA ticket, by earning accolades from the Head of State. He has since been projecting the image of President Ruto's point man in Makueni County.
When he voted for the Finance Bill 2024, Mr Mutuse was smarting from disgruntlement sparked by his association with the Kenya Kwanza administration. Voting for the proposed government tax plan irked more Kibwezi West Constituency residents.
It took the intervention of the police to protect his businesses in Kibwezi and Makindu townships which were targeted by protesters. Opinion is sharply divided on the implication of Mr Mutuse's big role in Mr Gachagua's impeachment frontline on his political fortune.
