Kalonzo Musyoka in quest for Kamba unity as leaders meet
What you need to know:
Prof Kibwana said any son or daughter of the Kamba Nation, irrespective of their faith or political affiliatiuon, is invited in the meeting to discuss a genuine quest for unity.
He said Mr Musyoka had reached out to all Kamba leaders, including former Wiper MPs who ran on Jubilee Party tickets.
Sources told the Nation that Governors Charity Ngilu (Kitui) and Alfred Mutua (Machakos) were also invited but had not confirmed attendance.
Nasa co-principal Kalonzo Musyoka has convened a meeting of leaders from Ukambani today to discuss and chart the way forward for the community.
Mr Musyoka, the leader of the Wiper party, has invited all elected members of national and county assemblies, professionals, elders, business and religious leaders from Kitui, Machakos and Makueni to deliberate on the community’s stake in national politics.
THE INVITE
The meeting will be hosted by former Machakos Senator Johnson Muthama at Kiamba Primary School near Koma market, Matungulu Constituency, in Machakos County, adjacent to his expansive Komarock Ranch.
The agenda of the meeting, according to its planners, is taking stock and reflecting on the Kamba community’s position in national politics and discussing unity of all leaders in the region.
An invite seen by the Nation says the gathering will seek ways of reconciling various political factions in the region, and come up with a way forward on the community’s social, economic and political future.
Makueni Governor Kivutha Kibwana on Sunday clarified that the Komarock meeting was not a Wiper-party affair but a broader get-together for the Kamba community.
“We are coming together as a community to discuss our common issues beyond the political parties we belong,” said Prof Kibwana, the Wiper party national chairman.
Prof Kibwana said any son or daughter of the Kamba Nation, irrespective of their faith or political affiliation, is invited in the meeting to discuss a genuine quest for unity.
INVITED
He said Mr Musyoka had reached out to all Kamba leaders, including former Wiper MPs who ran on Jubilee Party tickets.
Sources told the Nation that Governors Charity Ngilu (Kitui) and Alfred Mutua (Machakos) were also invited but had not confirmed attendance.
Others are former Kitui Senator David Musila, who quit the Wiper party to support Mr Kenyatta, former MPs Kisoi Munyao, Joe Mutambu, Itwiku Mbai, John Munuve, Gideon Ndambuki and Philip Kaloki.
Today’s meeting is a culmination of behind-the-scenes consultative meetings Mr Musyoka has been holding with leaders, elders and clergy from the three counties.
The meetings sought to evaluate his political prospects following the backlash that he faced after skipping the January 30 swearing-in of Raila Odinga at Uhuru Park, Nairobi.
During the meetings, Kamba elders, led by former Cabinet Minister Titus Mbathi, told Mr Musyoka that the swearing-in was of no political consequence and that he should forget about it and focus on his 2022 presidential bid.
“Why would you be sworn in just for the sake of it and yet you’ll not bring home any state power that can help your supporters after the event?” Mr Mbathi posed during a leaders’ meeting held at Stoni Athi Resort in Machakos last month.
ELDERS
He said Mr Musyoka had endured unnecessary bashing for skipping the Uhuru Park event and yet there was nothing tangible to be derived from it.
Mr Mbathi, a long serving board chairman of the Kenya Electricity Generating Company (Kengen), is part of a core team of influential Kamba elders who have been advising Mr Musyoka over the years and their stand carried the day.
They also openly declared that he has no political debts to pay as he gears up to make a second stab at the presidency.
Prof Kibwana said Mr Musyoka’s record of having supported retired President Mwai Kibaki during the grand coalition government and ODM leader Raila Odinga in his 2013 and 2017 presidential bids made him free of any political obligation to back another candidate in 2022.
“The political debt burden is on other people’s backs and we are in the process of strengthening our party and the coalition with our main focus is to dislodge Jubilee government from power,” he told the Nation in telephone interview.
Mr Musyoka ran for presidency in 2007 and emerged a distant third but entered a post-election coalition with President Kibaki’s PNU party, which offered him the vice presidency.
Amid Kibaki succession in 2013, he broke ranks with his PNU political allies President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto among others and threw his weight behind Mr Odinga as his running mate.
