You've shortchanged the people of Mt Kenya, Kabogo tells DP Ruto
From left: Ford Kenya leader Moses Wetang’ula, Deputy President William Ruto, ANC boss Musalia Mudavadi and Jibebe’s William Kabogo at Bomas of Kenya on January 23, 2022.
Former Kiambu Governor William Kabogo has threatened to ditch Deputy President William Ruto’s Kenya Kwanza Alliance.
Mr Kabogo says Dr Ruto appears to be favouring Musalia Mudavadi of Amani National Congress (ANC) and Bungoma governor Moses Wetang’ula of Ford-Kenya.
This is after the affiliate parties deposited a coalition agreement with the Registrar of Political Parties indicating that Mr Mudavadi will take up the Prime Cabinet Secretary position should Dr Ruto win the August 9 polls.
The prime CS post, which is akin to that of a Prime Minister in an expanded Executive, currently does not exist in the constitution.
In the agreement, Mr Mudavadi’s ANC will reportedly also propose several cabinet secretaries, principal secretaries and ambassadors, taking up 30 percent of government alongside Mr Wetangula’s Ford-Kenya.
Mr Wetangula, as per the agreement, has reportedly been proposed as Speaker of the National Assembly.
Dr Ruto’s United Democratic Alliance (UDA) will take up the president and deputy president positions, with a bulk of government centred around it, the deal states.
Now, Mr Kabogo says that’s not what he and Ruto agreed on when he (Kabogo) accepted to join Kenya Kwanza.
“I want to send out a message. I have seen the coalition agreement that UDA, ANC and Ford-Kenya have deposited with the political parties’ registrar. I did not join hands with William Ruto to get an appointive position,” Mr Kabogo said during a rally at Makongeni in Thika on Thursday, May 12, 2022.
Based on human population
He went on: “When he and I held a meeting in Dubai, I told him that I’m not interested in any Executive seat. However, I told him that I wanted him to ensure that resources are distributed equitably among Kenyan regions, especially in areas that will support his presidential bid, key among them the Mt Kenya region. What I suggested is that resources should be channelled based on human population. He accepted my suggestion at the time.”
The former county chief said the expanded Executive proposal that seeks to introduce prime CS was not part of his agreement with Ruto.
“I never saw that being factored in in the agreement deposited with the registrar of political parties. (After the agreement deposited with the political parties’ registrar was leaked to the media), I called and asked him (Ruto) to explain the document. I told him: ‘I have seen you’ve highlighted how you’ll share seats in the Executive; with Mudavadi and Wetangula occupying 30 per cent of government’. I stated to him that, on my end, I don’t want even one percent of the Executive seats.”
The DP’s signing of the deal with ANC and Ford Kenya, he said, was a betrayal of the people of Mt Kenya and the agreement he and Dr Ruto had.
“I insisted that the people of Mt Kenya must get benefits from his government. I further told him that if he won’t commit to such an arrangement, we will ditch the (Kenya Kwanza) coalition, even if only 10 of us agree to leave. And, thereafter, Kenyans will know what I had seen that necessitated my exit from Kenya Kwanza,” Mr Kabogo said in the rally.
When called later by Nation.Africa, Mr Kabogo said he was dissatisfied with how Dr Ruto had treated the 5.8 million vote-rich Mt Kenya.
"Yes, I have said that (referring to the video) and I don't regret repeating it. This is not what we discussed with him (Dr Ruto). The issue is what do Mt Kenya people stand to gain for supporting him? It is not about Kabogo but Mt Kenya people at large. If what I am reading in the papers and watching on TV is true, then the DP should come out clear and tell the Mt Kenya people what they stand to gain in supporting him," he charged.
