Ruto to use churches to counter Uhuru’s Azimio plans

Deputy President William Ruto’s allies in Mt Kenya have now crafted a strategy to neutralise President Uhuru Kenyatta’s plans in the region following his endorsement of Azimio la Umoja boss Raila Odinga.

The DP’s camp, multiple interviews have revealed, intends to invest more time to align itself with the Church and clerics. It will also venture deeper into the grassroots, get its running mate selection right and accommodate more people.

The ‘Hustler Nation’ has infiltrated the President’s political campaign teams and is aware of all the planned meetings, said Mathira MP Rigathi Gachagua.

“We are the ones who reside in Mt Kenya villages and we know them better. We are going to take Dr Ruto to the far corners of Mt Kenya villages,” he said. 

“We know that the President has only voiced what he has been exhibiting for the past four years. There is nothing new he has said and there is expected impact that he is going to make in the political pulse of Mt Kenya.”

Mr Gachagua said the Hustler meetings will continue and will centre on telling the people the truth and why Dr Ruto is the best bet.

“We are going to ensure that Dr Ruto interacts with the common mwananchi at the smallest administrative unit possible. We know Mr Odinga is being marketed in hotels and heavily censored public meetings where crowds are hired. We will beat him by packaging our candidate as the commoner they never had in politics,” he said.

Bahati MP Kimani Ngunjiri said “the strategy to beat the President and his project Odinga is simple: just baring the propaganda in their campaign.”

He said the public deserves the right to be told about the real thieves of the Kenyan economy “who include those cited for stashing huge amounts of money overseas, corrupted medicines to treat Covid-19 and stole land meant for peasants”.

Read: NCCK pushes for peaceful campaigns, elections

He said Mt Kenya has fair people who will make informed judgments on the political messages aired.

“These voters are the ones who know whether the President is telling the truth when he says they have become richer, healthier and accessed basic needs easily during his rule,” Mr Ngunjiri said.

“We are telling them and we will continue telling them that the President is making a blunder to force on us a candidate who is not our choice. It is that simple.”

Kandara MP Alice Wahome and Laikipia Woman Rep Catherine Waruguru said they will defend the Church from being disparaged by the President and Mr Odinga.

This, they hope, will allow Dr Ruto’s side to take advantage of that “executive slur on the Church” to make inroads by defending the clergy.

“The Church remains our point of refuge and we will defend it with all it takes. We want to urge the church to remain strong and we will be coming to the ground to mourn with them the presidential blanket condemnation,” Ms Wahome said.

President Kenyatta said in Sagana, Nyeri, this week that some of the churches have been feeding Kenyans with lies after being bribed with donations of “stolen money”.

“Our Deputy President is a Christian with roots in the Church. He will not change his character of loving the Church and being generous to the work of God just because someone has talked ill of (it),” Ms Waruguru said, challenging Mr Odinga to publicly declare his faith. 

“We will soon be coronating Dr Ruto in Mt Kenya churches and in other parts of the country.”

As they engage the President, longtime career administrator Joseph Kaguthi said the battle will be tough and taxing.

Deceitful aspirants

“The President is a genius and has the tenacity it takes to wage a political battle. The Hustler Nation, on the other hand, is composed of streetwise politicians. We hope that peace will prevail in the campaigns,” he said.

Sources in the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) say Amani National Congress (ANC) leader Musalia Mudavadi and Ford Kenya boss Moses Wetang’ula have been tasked to publicly reveal how the President took the Luhya community for a ride in 2013 when he promised to have the departing Mwai Kibaki administration support it to contest the presidency.

“The President kept Mudavadi’s hopes alive on behalf of the Luhya community, only to blame the demons for forcing him to abandon him. We will prove that reneging on promises is in the President’s genes,” said a UDA senior official, who asked for anonymity so as to freely discuss the strategy.

The President on Wednesday announced that Dr Ruto was unfit to rule and rooted for Mr Odinga, promising to visit the ground and showcase the reasons his choice is the best bet for Mt Kenya and the country at large.

“It did not come as a surprise; we knew all along the President and his deputy were not going to be together for the August 9 polls. We knew it seven years ago but the President, being the patient and calculating leader he is, waited until five months to the elections to make the declaration,” said Gatanga MP Nduati Ngugi.

Mr Ngugi said the agenda is “to reform the ruling Jubilee Party, partner with Mr Odinga’s ODM party and get our nominations right and then move out to get Dr Ruto’s political jugular in Mt Kenya and slay his fluid influence”.

Former Gatanga MP Peter Kenneth said he would lead at least 40 public meetings in the Mt Kenya region where the gospel will be why the President’s word of caution against Dr Ruto should be taken seriously.

The Mt Kenya region has politically been crafted to represent Tharaka Nithi, Meru, Laikipia, Nyandarua, Nakuru, Nairobi, Murang’a, Nyeri, Kirinyaga, Kiambu and Embu counties, home to the majority Gikuyu, Embu and Meru (Gema) communities.

“The President has given us his reasons for abandoning his deputy for the top seat. We cannot afford to ignore him and hand over the country to a thieving, deceitful, greedy and disrespectful composition of aspirants,” Mr Kenneth said. 

Read: Raila Odinga tells off his critics linking him to sorcery

“We are now going to take over the Mt Kenya region and transform it into a hub of unity, stability and prosperity as per the President’s desire.”

But in a quick rejoinder, Murang’a Senator Irungu Kang’ata on Thursday said that “what the President has done is to divide the Mt Kenya region in a manner that will taint his legacy as he vacates the presidency”.

Mr Kang’ata said the President and his men have prompted an escalation of engagement on the ground that will be rough and defining.

“We know that the Deputy President enjoys an immense following and we will do all it takes to safeguard that,” he said. 

“What we will now do is to confront every lie that will be dropped against him in the scheme to cut his feet. We are going to rely on God, our own wisdom, the power of prayer and the power of our words to confront them.”

UDA strategist Edward Muriu, who is running for the Gatanga parliamentary seat, said all was in place for the Ruto team’s counter-strategy.

“We do not intend to respond directly to the President. But we will hold more major meetings in the Mt Kenya region. We will not attack him as a person but we will confront the lies he is spreading,” he said. 

“We will insist that he change his tack towards retirement and cease behaving as if he wants to hang on in power. We will not allow him to issue unsubstantiated claims against our persons.

“When he says he knows about public thieves, he should be ready to substantiate. We also have the option of suing him in his individual capacity if he defames and slanders us.”

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