Gideon spoiling for fight with Uhuru

It looks a foregone conclusion that former Baringo Central MP Gideon Moi will take on Kanu national chairman Uhuru Kenyatta when the party holds its elections next year.

The contest has all the makings of a titanic showdown between two wealthy sons of Kenya’s second and first presidents, respectively.

Kanu last held national elections in 2005 when Mr Kenyatta beat off a challenge from Mr Nicholas Biwott, who has since formed the New Vision Party.

Sharpen the skills

Kanu’s nominated MP Amina Abdallah, who is also one of the party’s four vice-chairpersons, says the battle will be major. “But the contest will be healthy. It will sharpen the skills of whoever wins for 2012.”

Mr Moi has been criss-crossing the Rift Valley on a mission to “revive” the party, which he says has been “dormant” since it joined the PNU alliance in 2007.

Mr Moi has also forcefully come out to say Kanu will not go into the 2012 election under the PNU coalition, a clear dig at Mr Kenyatta’s increasingly entrenched position in government and the PNU coalition.

This battle for the soul of Kanu is being fought on a new political terrain. The party is no longer the pre-2003 monolith it was. Narc delivered it a body blow in 2002, and come 2007, it was routed from its remaining Rift Valley stronghold by ODM.

Mr Moi’s position is that Kanu must henceforth go it alone. Kanu Secretary-General Nick Salat, his close ally, is emphatic that “fielding a (Kanu) presidential candidate in 2012 is non-negotiable. We as a party must also meet soon to agree on candidates for the Bomachoge and Shinyalu by-elections”.

Mr Kenyatta’s side remains highly wary of this strategy, especially where Mr Moi and his friends have little proven political clout, even in their North Rift backyard.

“There is no Kanu in Rift Valley, nor is there any in Central Province. What we have are individuals holding the fort. But some have obviously managed much better than others,” said Kanu organising secretary Justin Muturi, Mr Kenyatta’s ally.

Depending on where one stands, Mr Moi’s challenge can be seen as an honest effort to “reclaim” the party, or it can be seen as an exercise in gaining his own political relevance. Despite his camp’s accusing Mr Kenyatta of running down the party, it is doubtful they have the clout to return Kanu to its former glory.

Presently Kanu has 15 MPs – Ms Abdallah (nominated), Naomi Shaban (Taveta), Aden Sugow (Fafi), Yusuf Haji (Ijara), Adan Keynan (Wajir West), Ali Abdirahman (Wajir South), Joseph Lekuton (Laisamis), Abdul Bahari (Isiolo South), Mithika Linturi (Igembe South), Kareke Mbiuki (Nithi), Stanley Githunguri (Kiambaa), John Mututho (Naivasha), Sam Ongeri (Nyaribari Masaba), Wilfred Moriasi (Mugirango Borabu), and Mr Kenyatta himself (Gatundu).

A majority of these 15 identify with the party chairman. Not a single one was elected from Mr Moi’s North Rift region. The entire Rift Valley has a single declared MP: Naivasha’s Mututho.

“As things stand, Gideon and Uhuru are a mismatch. Gideon and his group failed to contend with ODM, which is still the party to beat in Rift Valley. On the other hand, Uhuru and the Kanu MPs who made it may be in the minority within the PNU coalition, but they are elected nonetheless. They still remain viable politicians,” said another Kanu MP from Eastern Province who wished not to be named because he is friends with both Uhuru and Gideon.

Kanu’s decline and the confusing party coalitions that have been coming and going have led to a situation where a distinction is made between MPs who are commonly called “pure Kanu” and the other “impure Kanu”.

The first refers to the 14 MPs who were elected on a Kanu ticket in 2007 and the second to those who identify with Kanu but were elected on a PNU ticket. In the latter category are Juja’s George Thuo, Kabete’s Lewis Nguyai, Nakuru Town’s Lee Kinyanjui, Kigumo’s Jamleck Kamau, Kamukunji’s Simon Mbugua and Kaloleni’s Samuel Kazungu. In this category also, the numbers favour Mr Kenyatta.

General feeling

The general feeling on the ground is that to get mileage in Rift Valley, Mr Moi and his group, which includes former MPs Paul Sang (Bureti) and Joseph Kimkung (Mt Elgon), may be forced to cut some deal with ODM vice-chairman and Agriculture minister William Ruto, depending on whether former President Daniel arap Moi would be amenable.

The other option for Mr Moi is to hope for a fallout in ODM in Rift Valley.

Mr Moi displays great antipathy toward ODM and rarely fails to exhort residents to “remain” in Kanu, despite the evidence that Kanu faces an uphill task in the province.

The only thing the two competing sides agree on is that the party needs popularising, and deputy-secretary general Maoka Maore, a former Ntonyiri MP, applauds Mr Moi for taking the initiative.

Both Mr Muturi and Mr Salat speak of Kanu’s network and structures as superior to any other party’s. But these look to have served the party best when it was in power.

Kanu last held a special delegates meeting in November last year to ratify amendments bringing it into compliance with the Political Parties Act that became operational in July 2008. That was when Mr Moi was promoted to one of the deputy vice-chairmen slots, replacing Henry Kosgey, who had defected to ODM.

Though Ms Abdallah hopes the party will emerge stronger, there are others who fear it could go the way of so many other parties that break up into factions after hotly contested elections.