Wiper denounces Nyenze support for Uhuru
The Wiper Democratic Movement has disowned National Assembly Minority Leader Francis Nyenze’s public backing of President Uhuru Kenyatta.
On Monday, the Party’s Executive Director Jared Maaka Siso claimed Wiper will “chart the way forward” after questioning the Kitui West MP on whether he has defected to Jubilee Party.
“Hon Nyenze, the Wiper candidate for Kitui West, is quite aware of the consequences of campaigning for a rival party,” Dr Siso said in a statement.
“WDM-K will no doubt be seeking a clarification from Hon Nyenze as to whether he has, since his nomination as Kitui West parliamentary candidate on WDM-K ticket, shifted his allegiance from our party to Jubilee candidate, after which we will chart the way forward,” he added.
Wiper is a member of the National Super Alliance (Nasa) alongside the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), Amani National Congress (ANC), Ford Kenya and Chama Cha Mashinani (CCM).
FIREFIGHTING
And while Nasa is seeking to defeat President Kenyatta’s Jubilee in the next elections, some Wiper MPs have given mixed signals in public, plunging the Party in constant firefighting.
On Sunday, Mr Nyenze who represents the opposition minority in the National Assembly, told a crowd in his native County that President Kenyatta deserves a second term in office due to his development record across the country.
“If somebody does well to you, you can’t forget. Can you forget those who have done well like Uhuru Kenyatta?” he said at Kauwi primary school in Kitui County during the launch of National Youth Service (NYS) programme in his constituency presided over by Youth Affairs cabinet secretary Sicily Kariuki.
Mr Nyenze spoke in his native Kamba language, strongly defending the Jubilee against Opposition claims that their performance was not good enough citing the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) as among major achievements.
“Let’s not be swayed by politics of empty rhetoric by those alleging President Uhuru hasn’t worked well. The truth is Uhuru has done a lot and we’ll elect those whose work can be seen” he said.
TRAITOR
Wiper’s first reaction was to calm suspicions with Makueni Senator Mutula Kilonzo Junior claiming Nyenze had been a traitor all along but stayed quiet to earn Wiper nomination, an area seen as the Party’s stronghold.
On Monday, Dr Siso argued Wiper still sees the President’s Party and administration as a failure in governance since 2013, and will remain in Nasa to defeat Jubilee.
“Wiper wishes to state categorically that reports from the ground indicate that Kitui West in particular, and Ukambani in general, are locked under Wiper/Nasa and under the able leadership of Kalonzo Musyoka, whose support from the region is near fanatical,” he said referring to the Party’s leader and former Vice President.
“For Jubilee to even imagine it can make a significant impact in vote hunting from the region is an exercise in futility,” he added.
In all its defence of supporting Nasa though, Wiper has had cracks ever since Nasa was formed.
In March, when the Alliance was discussing how to select the Presidential candidate, Mr Nyenze and several MPs claimed Wiper will go it alone if Mr Kalonzo wasn’t picked.
And when he wasn’t, Mr Nyenze voiced disappointment, which was again fought down by the party’s lieutenants.
