Munya vs Murungi: Clash of age, ideology and 2022 plans

Meru Senator Kiraitu Murungi (left) and Governor Peter Munya. Three polls conducted this month have shown that the governor has a clear, albeit slim, lead. PHOTOS | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • The latest by Tifa poll shows the governor has 47 per cent compared to Senator Murungi’s 39 per cent.
  • According to Mr Mike Makarena, a political analyst, the governor represents the future of Meru and the senator its past.

When Senator Kiraitu Murungi announced in 2016 that he would be running for governor, armchair political analysts predicted how the man who has been in politics for close to three decades would vanquish incumbent Peter Munya.

After all, Mr Murungi is the one who campaigned for the governor in 2013.

One year later, Mr Munya has proved a hard nut to crack.

OPINION POLLS

In fact, three polls conducted this month have shown that the governor has a clear, albeit slim, lead.

The latest by Tifa poll shows the governor has 47 per cent compared to Senator Murungi’s 39 per cent.

The other candidates are a former assistant minister, Dr Kilemi Mwiria of Maendeleo Chap Chap party, Ms Winnie Kaburu of Wiper and an independent candidate, Bishop Kiambi Atheru.

SUCCESSION
But the fight between Mr Kiraitu and Mr Munya has metamorphosed into a contest between the aspirations of the young in Meru and the interests of the establishment; the future aspirations of a community and its current reality.

It is then complicated by the 2022 succession politics and regionalism that has taken root in the county.

It is political guerrilla warfare, being fought village by village, street to street.

SUPPORT
Nothing symbolises this contest more than Maua town, a sprawling urban centre in Igembe South and part of the old Nyambene District.

Surrounded by the Nyambene hills and acres of miraa (khat) farms, the town is at the heart of Mr Munya’s bedrock support.

Here, they call him Laing’o (Kimeru for “warrior”).

According to Mr Mike Makarena, a political analyst, the governor represents the future of Meru and the senator its past.

PRESIDENCY

He argues that Mr Munya’s declaration that he will vie for presidency in 2022 has endeared him to voters, who feel that they have lived in the shadow of the Kikuyu community under the Gema grouping for a long time.

“Munya is ambitious and will fight for our interests for years to come.

"Kiraitu wants to be governor for one term and retire. The question is very simple: Is Meru governorship a retirement pad or a propeller to greater things? We chose the latter,” Mr Makarena said while sipping soup at a butchery.

WILLIAM RUTO
Mr Munya’s ambition has not gone down well with the senator.

“It is only fair for the Gema community to back Mr (Deputy President William) Ruto in 2022.

"Politics is about numbers and the Meru voters cannot make you president. Let my brother Munya know that he has lost direction,” the senator said.

“The presidency cannot just oscillate between Central province and Rift Valley forever,” Mr Munya countered.

AGE

Tied with the future of Meru is the matter of age.

The governor is selling his candidature as that of a young, fresh candidate, against a man who has been in politics for close to three decades.

Mr Munya is 48 while Mr Kiraitu is 65.

“What will he do for Meru in the next five years that he has not done for 30 years? Mr Munya asked.

YOUNG

But Mr Kiraitu has a different take.

“Jomo delivered independence when he was in his 70s and we saw his record. I am as fit as a fiddle,” he said.

But Nominated MCA Gachiri Muthuri, who is from Imenti South, gets biblical on the issue of age.

“In Acts 2: 17, the Bible says the young have vision and the old have dreams. We choose the vision instead of dreams that have not been actualised for decades,” Ms Muthuri said.

MIRAA
To Mr Jack Munoru, a former lecturer in the United States of America, who now owns property in Maua, the warrior tag in Nyambene is because the governor has convinced area residents that he fights for their interest, from Miraa to appointments in the county government.

The Nyambene have decried their dominance by the Imenti, which Mr Munoru alludes to.

“When Kiraitu was in power during Kibaki years, most of those appointed were from Imenti.

"Kiraitu and the late Finance minister David Mwiraria were both from Imenti. Even most projects went to his ward, not even the whole Imenti.

“We the Nyambene are the majority and we deserve better. Munya symbolises that better recognition for us,” Mr Munoru added.

REPUTATION
But Mr Paul Mugambi, a lawyer and adviser of National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi, said Mr Murungi gets unnecessary flak for not developing the rest of Meru.

“There were no counties then. MPs were restricted to their constituencies. It’s the other MPs that failed,” he added.

Due to the warrior reputation in Nyambene, the governor has managed to craft a coalition of five constituencies that were part of the old Nyambene district, which consists of the Tigania and Igembe people, into a formidable political machine.

The five: Igembe North, Igembe South, Igembe Central, Tigani East and Tigania West have 359,462 out of 702,480 voters.

VOTES

Mr Kiraitu’s support is mostly in his backyard of Imenti South, Imenti North, Imenti Central, which, combined, have a voting population of 266,985.

Buuri Constituency and its 76,033 voters was considered a swing zone, which was complicated by the candidature of area MP Kinoti Gatobu.

But on Thursday, President Kenyatta brokered a deal and Mr Gatobu agreed to step down and back Mr Kiraitu.

SUPPORT BASE
If voters cast their ballots based on the Imenti-Nyambene divide, Mr Munya has a slight advantage.

Mr Murungi would have 343,018 votes from Imenti and Buuri to tap into, while the governor would have 359,462 votes from Nyambene.

But political analysts reckon it is not that simple.

Mr Mugambi opines that Mr Murungi may get some votes in Tigania East due to the governor’s rivalry with area MP Mpuru Aburi.

“Some Mpuru supporters will never vote for Munya and will troop to Kiraitu.

"The senator also has a running mate from Tigania West and he may get votes from a ward there,” Mr Mugambi added.

WARDS
“You have to give credit to Munya though. He has managed to unite the Igembe and the Tigania, who could not see eye-to-eye politically,” he said.

Nominated MCA Gachiri Muthuri, who is from Imenti South, Mr Kiraitu’s perceived stronghold, also said Mr Munya will get votes from the Imenti.

“Two wards in Imenti South do not vote for Kiraitu. Even when he ran as MP. They will vote for Munya and they have more than 20,000 votes,” she said.

“Barring a political earthquake in the next few days, none of the two will win with a margin of more than 30,000 votes,” Mr Mugambi, who is rooting for Mr Kiraitu, said.

DEVELOPMENT
The governor said he is ready to fight for every vote in the region.

“I have fought for everything I have in my life and this is no different,” he said.

Then there is the development record. While the senator in his campaign has said that the county has nothing to show for the Sh31 billion it had received so far, Mr Munya has countered that the figure disbursed is Sh24 billion.

“The senator should get his mathematics right first. The figure is Sh24 billion. We have also delivered on health, agriculture, infrastructure and other areas,” Agriculture executive Jenaro Guantai added. 

SACCO
He cites the setting up of a county microfinance sacco, which is offering loans to youth, women and disabled at five per cent, as some of the development projects initiated. 

“We have supplied water to more than 100,000 households, completed markets, Kinoru Stadium and built the first probase roads. We have also built 47 new dispensaries,” Mr Guantai said.

Mr Murungi has promised that if elected, ECD will be free and each ward will get Sh100 million for development.

FUNDS MISUSE

He has also accused the governor of misusing funds.

But Ms Muthuri, the nominated MCA, has a different take.

“During the four years he has been a senator, he never called us to tell us anything about misappropriation or even raised an issue about it.

"Has he just discovered misuse when he declared his ambition?” she asked.

“If Kiraitu loses, he is finished politically. If Munya loses, he will be derailed but not out.

"He can come back. But either way, Meru politics will never be the same after August 8,” Mr Munoru said.