Ms Elizabeth Mueni Maingi, a hawker in Machakos town, could not hold back her tears of joy after Deputy President William Ruto stopped at her stand and bought green maize on June 27, 2021.
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William Ruto fear behind scramble in Mt Kenya to form alternative parties
The fear of crowded party primaries particularly in Deputy President William Ruto’s United Democratic Alliance (UDA) is fuelling the establishment of fringe parties in Mt Kenya region.
Most of the parties support Dr Ruto’s presidential candidature, but deep suspicions that leaders who have stood by the DP in the tough times could have undue advantage during UDA’s nominations, or even party machinations to hand them direct tickets, is reportedly fuelling the drive to establish alternative political vehicles.
Also stoking the suspicions is the belief that Dr Ruto orchestrated the defeat of some politicians in the run-up to 2017 elections when he supervised Jubilee Party primaries.
“We all know that Dr Ruto rigged us out in search of a new 2022 team that would be submissive to him…a team that would not task him to cede state power (should he emerge winner) to Mt Kenya that is commensurate with their numbers,” former Kiambu governor William Kabogo claimed after he lost the election to Mr Ferdinand Waititu.
Jubilee nominations
Jubilee vice chairman David Murathe has also publicly claimed that the DP influenced the outcome of the Jubilee nominations in the region in 2017.
Among the parties fronted in the region so far are The Service Party whose leader is former Cabinet Secretary Mwangi Kiunjuri, Peoples Empowerment Party associated with Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria, The National Democrats of Mr Thuo Mathenge and Party of National Unity (PNU) linked to Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Peter Munya,
Others that are not supporting the DP are Usawa Party led by Murang’a governor Mwangi wa Iria, Narc Kenya led by Martha Karua and Kenya National Congress associated with Peter Kenneth.
Mr Kiunjuri said: “It is only a fool who will go into 2022 to be subjected to the tricks that happen during the nominations, where people were literally plucked out of the contest not by the power of the voters but by personalities seated in an office.”
Mt Kenya politicians
Mr Kiunjuri added that his party will sponsor candidates in all competitive slots apart from the presidency where it will support Dr Ruto.
“Most Mt Kenya politicians have come to realise that the deputy President’s State House bid is the region’s force and is nearly building into a euphoria packaged under the hustler nation slogan,” explained Murang’a Senator Irungu Kang’ata.
Mr Kang’ata said the DP’s critics in the region who are defecting late in the day are the one’s seeking alternative vehicles.
“No one wants a crowded field. Dr Ruto supported nominations especially for those who had made it their political business to fight him while they were still in [the] Kieleweke [faction of Jubilee Party] and they would now want to join the hustler nation,” Mr Kang’ata added.
Instead of joining UDA, the politicians are pushing for recognition of fringe parties to escape the nomination purge, he said.
“I am aware of such fears ... one of our major threats to democracy is the compound fear embedded in perceptions, insinuations and appetite to refuse accepting results,” Dr Ruto told a KTN TV news show on Thursday night.
Kieni MP Mr Kanini Kega admitted that “the scary moment that reigns supreme now is the positioning in a political bus for the 2022 contest.”
Fringe parties
“Going by 2017 statistics where 60 percent of legislators were voted out, a high number losing out on nominations is what is informing formation of fringe parties, party hopping and stubbornness to remain outside the mainstream parties,” added Mr Kega, who is the Budget Committee chairman in the National Assembly.
Mr Kega, however, vowed to remain in Jubilee and behind President Kenyatta “since I want a unique house that will sponsor me for 2022 even as we seek to partner with other parties in a coalition.”
Former Gichugu MP Njogu Barua admitted that the fringe parties are the Plan B in case of a fallout in UDA.
“The hustler nation performance in the recent by-elections where it trounced the President’s allies in Murang’a, Nyandarua, Kiambu and Nakuru are worrying enough. That the President appears not to have in place a definable succession plan is all the more worrying. That Jubilee Party is now headed to an alliance that seeks to seclude Dr Ruto is the peak of confusion in Mt Kenya politics and the reason many are feeling safer with alternative parties to run to,” Mr Barua said.
