Blind loyalty to JAP risky, Kanu warns Rift Valley

What you need to know:

  • “We want to send a strong message to our rivals that this is just the beginning of tough times ahead for them. They have said that they will support a Kalenjin presidency in 2022 but we are saying why not 2017?” posed Kanu secretary-general Nick Salat.
  • “We don’t want a post-dated cheque in 2022. We may go to the bank then and be told to go back to the sender as the cheque has bounced,” said Mr Salat.
  • But Mr Moi has downplayed that there were any political schemes coming out of the Mara Safari Club meeting.

Former ruling party Kanu has cautioned the Kalenjin community against what it called blind support for the newly formed Jubilee Alliance Party (JAP).

The Kanu officials who spoke on Saturday at Loboi in Baringo South Sub-County during the burial of Kanu nominated Member of the County Assembly (MCA) Mathew Chang’ole, told off rivals whom they said were beginning to panic over Kanu’s growing popularity in Rift Valley.

“We want to send a strong message to our rivals that this is just the beginning of tough times ahead for them. They have said that they will support a Kalenjin presidency in 2022 but we are saying why not 2017?” posed Kanu secretary-general Nick Salat.

Jubilee coalition members have entered into an agreement which will see President Uhuru Kenyatta lead for two terms, then the Mount Kenya region would back Deputy President William Ruto in 2022.

POSTDATED CHEQUE

“We don’t want a post-dated cheque in 2022. We may go to the bank then and be told to go back to the sender as the cheque has bounced,” said Mr Salat.

Kanu’s heightened activities in Rift Valley has not gone down well with Mr Ruto’s URP allies who perceive this to be a scheme to weaken the Deputy President’s grip on the region.

 Kanu chairman Gideon Moi who is also the Baringo Senator recently held a “breakfast meeting” in Narok with Bomet Governor Isaac Ruto, Narok Senator Stephen Ole Ntutu — both vocal critics of the Deputy President — Kericho Governor Paul Chepkwony and Mr Salat. The meeting was seen as a sign of a political alliance in the making.

But Mr Moi has downplayed that there were any political schemes coming out of the Mara Safari Club meeting.

The Deputy President caused a stir last week at a funeral in Kabobo, in Uasin-Gishu County when he claimed that Mr Moi, Bomet Governor Isaac Ruto and President Kenyatta’s  political advisor Joshua Kutuny were plotting to use the crimes against humanity case facing him at International Criminal Court(ICC) to topple him politically, claims the three have denied.

 Mr Ruto warned his critics that they would end up being “buried in the political grave they are digging.”