William Ruto woos Mt Kenya Jubilee candidates to craft winning policy

Deputy President William Ruto has been meeting Jubilee nominees in Central Kenya to plot how the ruling party will win the Presidency and get the numbers to retain its majority in the National Assembly and Senate.

Last weekend, Mr Ruto met nine Jubilee nominees from Nyeri led by Senate candidate Ephraim Maina and Mathira’s Rigathi Gachagua, who is the brother of late Nyeri Governor Nderitu Gachagua.

On Wednesday, he met all Jubilee nominees in Kirinyaga led by former Devolution Cabinet Secretary Anne Waiguru where the duo resolved to bury the hatchet and work in harmony.

The DP hosted Ms Waiguru and the Kirinyaga delegation at his offices on the upmarket Karen estate in Nairobi during which he assured her of his full support in the August 8 election.

Ms Waiguru is the Jubilee Party candidate for the Kirinyaga gubernatorial seat after trouncing the incumbent, Joseph Ndathi and Kirinyaga Central MP Gachoki Gitari during the recent party primaries.

HAD EXCHANGED BITTER WORDS

Ms Waiguru confirmed that she indeed met Mr Ruto with whom she has previously exchanged bitter words over the National Youth Service (NYS) scandal.

“Circumstances have changed, I am no longer a technocrat, I am a politician and as you know, there are no permanent enemies in politics,” she said.

“I have been elected by the party and it is important that we build bridges so that we get votes for Jubilee. I have been meeting people in my county, including MPs and even the senator. We have held several meetings and it was important that we have a meeting with our party’s leadership on several matters affecting Kirinyaga, like the issue of the stalled dam and the resettlement of people. So I led a delegation to the DP for several hours after which I had a one-on-one meeting with him,” she told Nation.

Ms Waiguru disclosed that Mr Ruto assured her and the Kirinyaga delegation of his full support. 

“We have been talking with the DP and he accorded us a very warm welcome and assured us of his full support,” she said.

PARTY PRIMARIES

Signs that the two were warming up to each other emerged during the campaigns preceding the party primaries where Ms Waiguru repeatedly campaigned for the re-election of President Kenyatta and Mr Ruto.

And when he appeared on a television interview on Tuesday, Mr Ruto, when asked whether Ms Waiguru should be prosecuted over the NYS scandal, defended her, saying that no evidence had been found to implicate her.

Mr Ruto, the Nation learnt, is scheduled to host more delegations from Murang’a, Laikipia and Meru in the coming weeks.

The meetings came amid claims that the Deputy President has preferred candidates in Mt Kenya. Some losers in Jubilee primaries, including Kiambu Governor William Kabogo, have accused Mr Ruto of interfering with the primaries, leading to their defeat. 

JUBILEE TACTICS

The meetings focused on Jubilee’s tactics to win seats in the upper and lower houses despite the current onslaught by independent candidates; ways of increasing voter turnout in Central, and sharing of resources for the presidential campaigns.

The delegations also discussed how to stem nominations fallout; and unity drives among different factions that won the primaries.

They requested that the President visits Mt Kenya and asks voters to elect only those nominated on Jubilee tickets, a move that would dim the chances of independent candidates winning seats during the August elections.

“Mr Ruto agreed with our position that they will only campaign for Jubilee candidates as the aim of merging the parties was to create a strong unitary government through Parliament,” said one of the senatorial candidates who attended the meetings.

TOUR REGION

The Deputy President did not say when the President would tour the region.

Losers in Jubilee primaries in the region decamped to run as independents and have affirmed their support for President Kenyatta, even inviting him to their forum.

According to Mr Gachagua, an organiser of the Nyeri meeting, participants agreed to jointly campaign against independent candidates.

“There are no extra votes they will bring to the President that he didn’t already have. If they could not mobilise votes to win their races, how will they help the President? We also do not want a commander with no troops in Parliament,” he said. 

STOP INFIGHTING

The DP also asked leaders in Nyeri to stop infighting that may cost Jubilee votes in the populous county and discussed the goodies that residents expect on Madaraka Day.

The celebrations will be held in Nyeri on June 1 for the first time ever. “We agreed to end the fights and speak with one voice. Thereafter, we picked Mr Ephraim Maina (Senate candidate) to be the coordinator of the presidential campaign in Nyeri. We pledged to deliver all 490,000 votes to Jubilee in August,” added Mr Rigathi.

During the meeting with the Kirinyaga delegation, the leaders listed issues that may cause voter apathy in the county.