On October 9, some 38 Jubilee MPs sauntered into Serena Hotel for a meeting organised by Jubilee Senate Chief Whip Irungu Kang’ata and officials from the Office of the President.
Their agenda? To woo allies of Deputy President William Ruto to switch their loyalty to President Kenyatta ahead of the launch of the Building Bridges Initiatives report.
Three such meetings have taken place this month — at the residence of one of the Speakers on Kiambu Road, in Serena Hotel, and at the home of Nominated Senator David Sankok.
The main men batting for President Kenyatta are Mr Kang’ata, nominated MP Maina Kamanda and senior government officials. On DP Ruto’s side are stalwarts like Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro leading the Tangatanga push.
The Uhuru camp’s plan is a carrot-and-stick strategy of promising projects, favours and political support of the President, while threatening ouster from committees, 2022 repercussions and sponsoring of rivals to vie in their constituencies.
The DP’s point men are also prevailing on their allies to stay put, counting on his support in Mt Kenya, ability to assist in fundraisings and projects and pointing out that the President has less than two years left before he hands over power and cannot do much harm politically. They are also supporting rival candidates in Kieleweke backyards.
In the Serena meeting, leaders were taken through trends in the last three elections which showed that Mt Kenya voters flirt with other candidates but end up backing a leader from the region. They were also shown statistics showing the Handshake coalition has the numbers during the talks led by Senator Kang’ata.
“Uhuru will still have the final say in Mt Kenya in 2022. Join the winning side now or there will be no space,” they were told.
Mr Kamanda is also leading the efforts in Nairobi and counties like Nyandarua and Laikipia. He has already snatched Starehe MP Charles Njugua Kanyi, who has been an ally of Mr Ruto.
“He’s back in our fold. In Nairobi, Ruto has the support of four MPs and we have five. We are working on the others,” Mr Kamanda told the Nation. Mr Njagua did not respond to queries on the subject, promising to call back later, which he did not.
Nominated Senator David Sankok has been a target of the poaching game too. He claims he was visited by Mr Kamanda at his Narok home and asked to abandon Tangatanga. Mr Sankok said he was removed from the National Cohesion Committee when he refused to toe the line.
But Kamanda told the DP’s allies to carry their own cross: “Asking people to support the President is an obvious task since I’m member of the Jubilee party and the President is the party leader. I’ve no apologies to make for that. But we’re not intimidating them nor giving them cash.”
Mr Kamanda said they have identified candidates who will root for BBI if Ruto allies do not support it.
Laikipia Woman Rep Catherine Waruguru, another vocal Ruto supporter, has switched sides.
“I was misled into supporting the DP by people who taught me bad manners of loitering. I’ve seen the light. It’s Uhuru all the way,” she told a meeting of leaders in Nanyuki. Mathira MP Rigathi Gachagua told the Nation that he had been approached with a request to stop his media attacks on the Handshake.
“They did not tell me to stop supporting Ruto. The request was for me to stop media appearances in vernacular stations. I rebuffed the request,” said Mr Gachagua. He blames his woes, including investigations into how billions of shillings moved in and out of his accounts, on Jubilee politics. One of his allies, Wahome Wamatinga has also been removed from a parastatal.
Both camps are planting candidates in rival’s constituencies. Tangatanga camp is now organising fundraisers in constituencies of Kieleweke MPs and parading their rivals.
Last weekend, the DP was scheduled to hold fundraisers in Kangema and Mathioya in the absence of the area’s two MPs, but it was cancelled due to the retreat. Kangema MP Muturi Kigano is a Kieleweke die-hard who has castigated the DP for “early campaigns and divisions.”
“Ruto has escalated his aggression. He is no longer content with just undermining the President. He’s also undermining MPs who disagree with him, even if they support the President,” said Nyeri Town MP Wambugu Ngunjiri.
Mr Ngunjiri said the Ruto camp has been supporting rival candidates in his constituency. Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro said the DP is free to move to any part of the country. He claims that more MPs in the country are behind Ruto and are only waiting for the right time to show their true colours.
“The ones claiming to be neutral are with us. They cannot come out now because they will be investigated and intimidated even though they have done nothing wrong. We have, for instance, welcomed back to the Hustler Nation, Isiolo Women Rep, Hon Rehema Jaldesa. Many more are on the way,” said Mr Nyoro. Mr Ngunjiri says the worst is yet to come.
“BBi is going to make it an all-out war. But we are ready,” he said.
