By: Joseph Mutua Ndonga
Worth Noting:
- It is worth noting President Ruto toured Kikuyuland just a few days after his Deputy President Rigathi visited Muranga County which is the bedrock of his perceived political rival and Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro.
- He visited at a time when political temperature was high. It had been caused by Ndindi’s heightened political and development activities in Kiharu.
- Each had been putting the best foot forward in a bid to take over the Mount Kenya kingpin.
- So, during a fundraiser in Kigumo, many reasoned that Gachagua’s visit was meant to stamp his authority as the Mount Kenya kingpin.
- In his speech, he stated that President William Ruto and I have no problem preparing and nurturing youthful leaders to take over after we have completed our terms.
I followed with keen interest the just-concluded tour of President William Ruto in Kikuyu land.
For three days, he steered clear of local politics and purely focussed on development matters.
This is once again demonstrated that the President remained focussed and consistent. This is the same message he would make whenever he toured other parts of the country.
This was the second development tour the President was making in the Mountain. In earlier visit, he stayed for six days during which he unveiled a raft of projects.
This clearly showed that he was truly grateful to the people of this region for having voted as a bloc in support of him during the 2022 General Election.
I’m back because I do not want to see Central Kenya lagging behind on matters of development.
I’m the President of the Republic of Kenya. I’m therefore committed to develop all corners of Kenya equally.
In Kiambu, the President read a riot act to the local leaders. It is totally wrong to hire youths to shout at the leaders that you do not want. This habit must stop. As leaders, I urge you to focus on fulfilling the promises you made to the electorates.
Come 2027 polls, Kenyans will judge each one of us based on the work we have done.
They will not re-elect you because of igniting and being the leading light in early and premature succession politics.
It is worth noting President Ruto toured Kikuyuland just a few days after his Deputy President Rigathi visited Muranga County which is the bedrock of his perceived political rival and Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro.
He visited at a time when political temperature was high. It had been caused by Ndindi’s heightened political and development activities in Kiharu.
Each had been putting the best foot forward in a bid to take over the Mount Kenya kingpin.
So, during a fundraiser in Kigumo, many reasoned that Gachagua’s visit was meant to stamp his authority as the Mount Kenya kingpin.
In his speech, he stated that President William Ruto and I have no problem preparing and nurturing youthful leaders to take over after we have completed our terms.
He was accompanied by dozens of the MPs drawn from the Mountain and other regions. Many interpreted this to mean sending a strong message to Ndindi Nyoro that he was a lightweight. He cannot play in his league. He cannot match political experience and acumen that spanning three governments of President Moi, Kibaki and Uhuru.
Ndindi was present. This was a wise move. For the second time, the MP declared unconditional and unwavering support for Gachagua and President William Ruto. Was this coming from the bottom of his heart? Only time will tell.
The visit coincided with a post that circulating in social media in which the author argued that Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua is not safe politically.
Some powerful political forces were working behind the scene to bring him down.
If the forces succeed, President William will pick another person from the Mountain as his running mate 2027.
That is if he opts he to have this seat remain in region.
It is worth noting that the prerogative of choosing a running mate lies squarely with the President.
You would expect him to pick the most popular candidate who will help him to deliver votes. Given that majority of voters in the region are young people, a youthful candidate may stand a high chance.
Given this scenario, I would not expect DP Gachagua to take lightly the recent political developments.
A few days earlier, Ndindi opted to change his political strategy.
Contrary to the impression created by his critics, this was a tactical retreat.
Speaking when he was hosted by the leaders from Northern Kenya, Rift Valley and Nyanza, the Kiharu MP stated that his loyalty to President William Ruto and his deputy President Rigathi Gachagua was unquestionable.
As their worker, my job is to help them implement the pledges they made to Kenyans during the campaigns.
In Luo Nyanza where he was accompanied by local leaders and MP Babu Owino, Ndindi reiterated the commitment of President Ruto to develop all regions of Kenya.
All of us pay taxes and so we are entitled to development goodies.
Speaker after speaker showered Ndindi Nyoro with accolades.
Ndindi is youthful, development conscious and well educated on matters of good governance and social rights. He also believes in peace and unity. Therefore, he is a presidential material.
In his speech, Ndindi steered clear of succession politics. The talk is premature and ill-timed. This is the time of helping our beloved President and his deputy to succeed in their job of transforming the lives of Kenyans.
Ndindi’s change of tack was well understood. It came hot on the heels of a meeting he had hosted in Kiharu constituency. It was attended by 20 members of parliament drawn from different parts of country.
Most of the speakers endorsed Ndindi as the best suited to replace former President Uhuru Kenyatta as the kingpin of Mountain and also to succeed President William Ruto in 2032.
This time, this meeting rattled the deputy President Gachagua and his allies.
The DP troops did not wait for the dust to settle. They accused Ndindi of working at the behest of powerful forces out to cut Gachagua to size.
Though they would not provide evidence to support their claims, media reports indicated that the DP opted to escalate this matter to State House.
Reportedly, this what prompted the President to wade into the succession battle pitting him and Kiharu MP.
My government promised to mentor youthful leaders. We have not changed but I want to caution young leaders not to engage in activities that could jeopardize our development agenda.
A friend of mine told me. Hon Ndindi have a track record of development, reconciling and uniting the people.
He added: We expect the duo to borrow a leaf from the late Kenneth Matiba who said in the countdown to 1992 general elections ‘let the people decide’.
This means the people of Mount Kenya will choose candidate.
If it is Gachagua, then he will retain his position as Dr Ruto’s running mate. If Ndindi defeats him, he will replace him.
Matiba had made the popular quote in the eve of 1992 general elections during a mammoth campaign rallies in Kiambu district.
This tour shocked Democratic Party (DP) leader Mwai Kibaki, who had taken his campaign there a week earlier. This is because all the gains he had made were watered down.
This is where Matiba branded Kibaki as ‘general Kiguoya (coward )’ amid cheers, ululations from mammoth crowds.
We wanted Kibaki to resign when he was demoted by President Moi from position of the Vice President to that of the Ministry of Health that had been run down.
He had agreed to do so. This is after a series of the secret meetings with other leaders from across the country who believed that Moi was taking the country in wrong direction.
Kibaki however betrayed us on the floor of parliament. He declined to second a motion of confidence against President Moi which I had just presented.
This was a great betrayal. I become a marked man. I was put on the radar by state security agencies and I ended up in detention, Matiba declared.
The ‘let the people decide’ clarion call resonated very well with the masses not only in Mount Kenya region but Kenya as a whole.
I remember the famous words of former powerful Attorney General the late Charles Njonjo. He once said that politics is a dirty game.
You may think that today you are very powerful but you never know what will happen tomorrow.
Njonjo uttered these words after falling out with President Daniel Arap Moi.
He never thought that this can happen. This is because he was a close ally and confidant of President Moi.
Former Vice President Josphat Karanja had also suffered fate. After Moi fell out with his Vice President Mwai Kibaki, he pointed Doctor Karanja to this position.
Karanja stayed in office for less than one year. It is worth to note the political plot to hound him out of office had crafted by two lightweight politicians-Embakasi MP David Mwenje and the head of Motor Vehicle Inspection Unit Kuria Kanyingi. Just like DP Gachagua, he had downplayed the threat posed by the duo. President Moi replaced Karanja with the late Professor George Saitoti.
In Kiharu, former secretary general of KNUT Wilson Sosian who was among the leaders hosted by Ndindi, stated. I want to assure you the people of Muranga that Ndindi was poised to succeed President Ruto in 2032 when he completes his second term in office. You can take this to the bank.
I heard a section of the politicians allied to DP started peddling unfounded rumors that President William Ruto was sponsoring Ndindi’s campaigns. They would not produce an iota of evidence to support their claims.
This is not the first time that the name of the head of state would drag into premature 2032 succession politics.
Sometimes back Kakamega senator Bonny Khalwale had made similar claims. This happened during Dr Ruto’s visit to the region.
He alleged that President Ruto had held a closed door meeting with the leaders of Mulembe nation at Kakamega State Lodge. We managed to convince him to support the candidature of ANC leader Musalia Mudavadi in 2032.
Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua is not suitable for the position of the President. We want to tell him to forget it. President Ruto will pass the baton to Mudavadi, Khalwale added.
But in a swift rejoinder, Dr Ruto dismissed and denounced his remarks. It is premature and too early to talk about 2032 succession. We are here to launch and commission development projects. This is in line with promises we made during the campaigns.
I’m not holding brief for the President but I’m persuaded to believe that his position is the same. This is in regard to Ndindi’s political game plan for the Mount Kenya region.
The DP should bear this in mind. Ndindi’s political star was rising very fast.
I have been listening to the views of the Kikuyus living in Githurai and in my rural constituency of Mathioya
They would aver that Kiharu MP Ndindi is the most suitable candidate to lead the Mountain.
Apart from being youthful and well educated, he is a development conscious leader and a unifier.
Besides, he has never been implicated in corruption or any other wrong-doing.
Ndindi’s track record of development in Kiharu is there for all to see.
The MPs and other elected leaders are travelling there for bench-marking.
The other day a renowned opinion poll firm rated him as the best performer in the country. This is on matters of development.
Matters of education are close to his heart. Ndindi have done a lot in terms of building new state-of-art classrooms and renovating the old ones.
He has also been spending part of money he receives from National Exchequer to build TVET colleges.
National Government-Constituency Development Fund (NG-CDF) is one of the kitties
In this, the NG-CDF funds will cater for the school fees of the students in day schools in Kiharu. The parents will only pay Sh1,000 per term.
Joseph Mutua Ndonga Is A Writer And Political Analyst Based In Nairobi
