A section of Mt Kenya Jubilee MPs are expected to formally meet Deputy President William Ruto over the weekend to present a list of demands for him to meet if he wins the 2022 presidential election.
Under the aegis of the Mount Kenya leadership forum, about 62 MPs from the region, who are aligned to Jubilee Party's Tangatanga wing that supports the DP’s 2022 State House bid, said economic recovery and the political agenda top the list.
The MPs have openly declared their support for the DP but have engaged in negotiations to come up with issues affecting the region as well as the country in general, that they want the DP to address if he succeeds President Uhuru Kenyatta.
A meeting on Saturday, at the home of Kikuyu MP Kimani Ichung’wah, brought together 13 MPs. It was the third of similar meetings over the weekend and another on Tuesday at Mathira MP Rigathi Gachagua’s home.
The MPs were, however, guarded on what their irreducible minimums were.
“We are now planning to meet the DP to present our issues and ensure that he takes a firm position on them if he forms the government after the 2022 General Election,” said Mr Ichung’wah. “This includes economic recovery and the democratic governance of our nation."
The MPs kept off the ongoing debate over constitutional changes through the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI), established by President Kenyatta and Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) leader Raila Odinga.
President Uhuru Kenyatta's speech during the BBI report launch
In the majority of his addresses to the nation, President Kenyatta has been uncomfortable with early 2022 campaigns propagated by the DP's sympathisers.
To clampdown against those disregarding these presidential edicts, the government has often used various State agencies.
On Saturday, the MPs told the government to stop using the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), Asset Recovery Agency (ARA) and the police, among others, to harass MPs advancing the DP’s 2022 agenda.
Meru Senator Mithika Linturi noted that the region and its diaspora are bestowed with enterprising people and are the most productive in revenue generation for the government.
“Many of our traders and business people have deliberately been driven into poverty through government policies coupled with unprecedented high handedness,” said Mr Linturi.
He cited dairy, khat, rice, green grams, potatoes, maize, horticulture, pyrethrum, avocado, macadamia, tea and coffee farmers, saying they have been suffering since the past regime.
“They have all suffered immensely under the supervised hands of monopolistic cartels, an unfair business environment and business-insensitive directives. Our people have never been this impoverished since pre-colonial Kenya,” the senator added.
President Uhuru Kenyatta's speech during the BBI report launch
At their first meeting, the MPs established a framework to propagate the interests of the region.
Other than the economic and political agenda, they also agreed to set up committees with representatives from each county to steer the discussions, which they want to centre on citizens’ "issues and aspirations".
Mr Ichung’wah said the negotiations are not about who will get what position but the interests of the people of Kenya.
“It is that matrix of political engagement we want to change and ensure that we adopt a framework that is people-centred. The aspirations of the people we represent are very key. Political interests will come later,” the Kikuyu MP noted.
This came after claims that Mr Kenya MPs are keen on ensuring the Deputy President nominates his running mate from the region.
Asked why the demands they are raising cannot be implemented under the current regime because their man is still the DP, and has considerable influence in shaping the government policy on economic growth and development as well as political stability, they did not mince their words.
Moses Kuria stern warning to Uhuru, Raila over BBI
Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria said the March 9, 2018 handshake between President Kenyatta and Mr Odinga “messed” the vibrant ideas that the Jubilee administration had ahead of the 2017 election.
“The government that we put in power during the 2017 elections and the government that came after the handshake are not the same,” said Mr Kuria.
He noted that immediately after the handshake, Jubilee’s priorities of building the economy and a cohesive political stability changed.
“The vibrant aspirations we had for the country were shuffled to the backburner. What we are now witnessing is the urgency to change the Constitution through the BBI," he said.
About the timing of the negotiations with the President, Mr Kuria said: "It was important to study the character of the person we were looking to work with first.”
“After this prequalification, we are now satisfied that the DP is a good person. That is why we are negotiating,” he said.
Senator Susan Kihika (Nakuru) and MPs Kimani Ngunjiri (Bahati), Alice Wahome (Kandara), Purity Ngirichi (Kirinyaga woman representative) and Faith Gitau (Nyandarua woman representative) attended the meeting at Mr Ichung’wah’s home.
Cecily Mbarire (nominated), Rigathi Gachagua (Mathira), Ndindi Nyoro (Kiharu) and Beatrice Nkatha (Tharaka Nithi Woman rep) were also present.
