Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka has allowed Ukambani governors to work with President William Ruto to develop the region, but barred MPs and other elected leaders from Kitui, Machakos and Makueni counties from getting cosy with the Kenya Kwanza administration.
Mr Musyoka sought to allay fears in the Wiper family that Machakos Governor Wavinya Ndeti and her Makueni counterpart Mutula Kilonzo Junior, who had expressed misgivings with Azimio’s political activities, were warming up to President William Ruto .
“We have told them that as governors, they should work with the government of the day. But they should not forget their home,” he said at Ngovu village in Makueni County on Monday during the burial of Nairobi businessman Paul Muthama Ngundi.
Politics took center stage at the ceremony that was attended by Wiper politicians in Kitui and Makueni counties. Mbooni MP Erastus Kivasu, Kitui Speaker Kinengo Katisya, his Makueni counterpart Douglas Mbilu, Makueni Senator Daniel Maanzo and Makueni Woman Representative Rose Museo exuded confidence the region will remain in the opposition.
“Mr Musyoka remains the political kingpin in this region. However, some of us have started forming smaller groups. Many such groups have emerged. It is only prudent that those setting up the smaller camps should stop,” Mr Mbilu said without referring to anyone in particular. A seemingly disgruntled Mr Kilonzo Jr sustained talk that Azimio leader Raila Odinga had lost last year’s presidential bid because the coalition had mistreated Mr Musyoka.
A fortnight ago, Mr Kilonzo Jr vowed not to participate in the Azimio protests until Ukambani gets the same amount of development as Nyanza, Mr Odinga’s backyard. In a quick rejoinder, however, Mr Musyoka asked the Wiper vice chairman to tone down. “Never mind, Governor Kilonzo Jr, that we were mishandled. They soil your eyes and you take a lot of rubbish and beating for the sake of your country. That is how you become a great leader,” he said.
This is the first time Mr Musyoka had met most of his lieutenants after Azimio intensified its political activities in a bid to keep the Kenya Kwanza administration in check. As he rallied his Ukambani political base behind the countrywide rallies fashioned to keep President Ruto’s administration in check, Mr Musyoka, the Ukambani political kingpin, accused the Kenya Kwanza administration of making the lives of Kenyans unbearable through high taxation. He created the impression that Azimio MPs warming up to President Ruto were undermining their chances of reelection and in the case of Wiper MPs, his chances of succeeding President Ruto in the 2027 General Election. Still, he said he was ready to lose the 2027 presidential race but see to it that Wiper MPs are re-elected.
As he cautioned his lieutenants against warming up to President Ruto whom he said was already campaigning for reelection, Mr Musyoka praised Wiper MPs in Makueni County for allegedly turning down an overture by the Head of State. If they had honoured the invitation to State House, the Wiper leader said, the MPs would have written their political obituaries.
