Former MPs say support for Uhuru got them new jobs

Two former MPs have hailed their appointments to head parastatals saying this will ensure inclusivity and the unity of all Kenyans.

They have also said that the appointments have favoured the team allied to President Uhuru Kenyatta which has been pushing for inclusivity

Former Kandara MP Joshua Toro and former Dagoretti MP Dennis Waweru who were named to head the National Irrigation Board and the Kenya Investment Authority respectively.

The two said that President Uhuru Kenyatta considered them because they are in the Kieleweke political movement, which has morphed into Team Kenya after ODM, Wiper and Kanu leaders joined the Jubilee Party MPs opposed to Deputy President William Ruto.

TEAM KENYA

“I got a job yesterday as a chairman of all investments. I thank God and Uhuru. I am Team Kenya. The appointment has confirmed to doubting Thomases that Uhuru loves Team Kenya and that is why he gave me a job,” Mr Waweru said on Sunday.

On his part, Mr Toro said that the Kieleweke team was rewarded for standing with Kenyans and fighting genuinely for them “unlike those others who give handouts for support”.

He claimed that most of those in the Tanga Tanga team and who are campaigning for DP Ruto to be president wanted President Kenyatta jailed when he was charged at The Hague-based International Criminal Court.

Meanwhile, political observers have interpreted last Friday’s appointments that highly benefited people from the Mt Kenya region as meant to tame Dr Ruto’s influence in the area.

NEUTRALIZE TANGA TANGA

Leaders and political pundits say the appointments were a plan to neutralise Dr Ruto’s Tanga Tanga movement as most of the beneficiaries in Mt Kenya lost in the 2017 General Election.

Most of those who clinched political seats are DP Ruto’s allies, with the losers insisting that they were rigged out at the Jubilee Party primaries.

The beneficiaries in Murang’a County are those who were defeated by politicians who have turned out to be Dr Ruto’s ardent supporters while no person was appointed from constituencies where MPs support the President.

In Kiharu Constituency where the MP Ndindi Nyoro has publicly stated that he will support Dr Ruto and his 2022 presidential ambition, his main competitor Karanja Mburu has been appointed to the Lapsset Corridor board while in Maragua, Mr Elias Mbau, who lost to Mary Waithira, has been appointed to head the NEPAD/APRM.

APPOINTEES

In Kandara Constituency, Mr Joshua Toro, who lost to Alice Wahome has been appointed to chair the National Irrigation Board while gubernatorial loser Jamleck Kamau will now serve as the chairman of Tana and Athi River Development Authority.

Former Murang’a Deputy Governor Gakure Monyo has been appointed to serve as a member of the National Irrigation Board. Mr Monyo fell out with his boss, Governor Mwangi Wa Iria, for supporting Mr Kamau’s candidatures for the governor’s seat, with pundits claiming Mr Wa Iria’s failure to declare his unwavering support could have led to Mr Kamau’s and Mr Monyo’s appointment.

Mr Mike Rubia, who is a close ally of opposition chief Raila Odinga and who hails from Murang’a County, has also been appointed to serve in the Postal Corporation of Kenya.

Murang’a County Assembly Speaker Nduati Kariuki will serve in the Pests Control Products Board.

BIG FOUR

Gatanga MP Nduati Ngugi, an ardent supporter of the President’s faction, said MPs from areas that benefited with the latest appointments did not live according to the President’s spirit and his Big Four agenda, a move he thinks informed the President to seek leaders who will implement his vision to the country before his term expires.

“Kandara, Maragua and Kiharu MPs have consistently ignored the President’s directive to halt premature 2022 campaigns and support his Big Four agenda. Now the President decided to look for other leaders who will assist him to leave a legacy,” the MP said.

Mr Ngugi said the leaders will spearhead the President’s agenda and will replace the “stiff-necked leaders” who have disobeyed the head of State.

DEFIANT LEADERS

“From the look of things, the defiant leaders will not be involved in the affairs of their areas since they are busy politicking for their master across the country,” he told the Nation.

But Kigumo MP Wangari Mwaniki urged people not to read too much politics into the appointment, saying the President was keen on creating an all-inclusive government and that rewarding politicians in State appointments is normal.

“It is not fair to keep the country in political mood; politicians who are loyal have always been considered (for appointments) and there is nothing peculiar,” she noted.

Sought for the comment, Kiharu MP Nyoro only congratulated the appointees, declining to delve further into the debate.