Plot for DP Ruto running mate takes shape

Jubilee Party is toying with the option of picking its presidential running mate in the 2022 General Election via universal suffrage to tame fallouts that may be occasioned by boardroom negotiated arrangements.

President Uhuru Kenyatta’s party, by virtue of being in power, may not have as many challenges as the Opposition but observers reckon that the choice of a running mate will greatly determine whether they win the polls or lose.

Owing to the fact that it is a vote basket, Mt Kenya region – the President’s backyard – will be hoping to at least get the deputy president slot as a way of boosting voter turnout.

Deputy President William Ruto, who has been assured of the party’s support as the flagbearer, has more than a dozen politicians lining up to team up with him to succeed Mr Kenyatta.

At least six politicians have either publicly or in private expressed interest in the coveted seat, posing a headache to Mr Ruto on who to settle on.

VOTERS' DECISION
Tharaka-Nithi Senator and Deputy Speaker Kithure Kindiki, East African Community Cabinet Secretary Peter Munya, Murang’a Governor Mwangi wa Iria and his Kirinyaga counterpart Anne Waiguru are some of those being touted for the slot.

Nakuru Governor Lee Kinyanjui and Agriculture CS Mwangi Kiunjuri are also said to be harbouring ambitions of being the DP.

Party insiders who spoke to the Nation believe that direct nominations would be one of the best ways of handling the matter that if not handled with utmost care may cause an implosion in the ruling party.

Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria agrees, “While DP is our man come 2022, the decision on who deputises him should be left to the people”.

According to the outspoken lawmaker, central Kenya voters rarely pay attention to caucusing by a few politicians to chart their political path.

INCLUSIVITY
But even as Central jostles for the seat hardly six months after an election boycotted by the Opposition, Mr Ruto’s handlers intimate he is juggling how he can appease the central Kenya support base while at the same time pairing up with a politician from outside the community to win the election.

Western Kenya and Coast are said to be on his radar with those familiar with his thinking saying he is keen to discard the belief that power can only rotate between two communities.

All the four presidents Kenya has had in its 54 years of independence have been either from Central or Rift Valley. The two are populous.

From Western, Senate Speaker Ken Lusaka and Majority Whip Ben Washiali are being mentioned as possible picks.

Mr Munya’s coming into the Cabinet has sent reverberations across central Kenya with politicians who have been lining themselves as possible kingpins in the post-Kenyatta era digesting the ramifications it may have on their career trajectory.

FORMIDABLE SUCCESSOR
Mr Munya, a firebrand politician who took on the Meru Governor Kiraitu Murungi almost successfully in the last polls, has in the past declared that he would run for president in the next elections.

Prof Kindiki and Mr Munya, from the Meru community, will be hoping to ride on a profound feeling among the two “cousins” – the Agikuyu and Ameru – that it should be their turn following 20 years of unwavering support for the Kikuyu community in the years of retired presidents Mwai Kibaki and Uhuru Kenyatta, without mentioning the founding leader Jomo Kenyatta.

The stiff competition for the deputy’s slot is said to have seen politicians like Prof Kindiki entertain the option of either defending their seats or running for governor.

Faced with the accusation of being domineering in the Gema family, the Agikuyu have always thrown down the gauntlet at the Ameru and Embu, charging that they had failed to groom a strong leader around whom they can rally for a national position.

The desire for “appropriate recognition” has in the past seen the emergence of parties in Mt Kenya East such as the defunct Alliance Party of Kenya (APK), alias the ‘Mbus’ led by Mr Murungi and recently PNU, which was revived by Mr Munya in the run-up to the August General Election.

HOPEFULS
But Prof Kindiki, while noting that time is not yet ripe to make political moves, said he is sure that he would vie for a national position in 2022.

He said more leaders from the region were welcome to express interest in the presidency.

“I have a duty to serve the people of Tharaka-Nithi for the next five years. I also have to serve the party for the role given in the Senate. My focus now is to perform my duties and support the President in achieving his agenda,” he said.

Prof Kindiki added: “However, I can give assurance that I will be running for a national political office.

"But that will be announced at the right time. If there are others interested in the national office from the region, we will sort ourselves out then. We will look for ways of agreeing on a person who can reach out to the rest of Kenyans and get support.”

NATIONAL UNITY
Mr Wa Iria, who is the only governor to retain his seat in the former Central province, said he could not be drawn into succession politics of the region at this time, but was unsuccessful in concealing his ambition.

“Our focus now is service delivery. Of course a politician without ambition is not fit to be one, and we are looking to be in the national government in 2022,” he said.

Nyeri Senator Ephraim Maina said central Kenya’s political future could not be discussed without political unity in the region and also nationally.

“Central Kenya is part of Kenya and any political talk must be held in the context of national unity.

"President Uhuru Kenyatta will play a key role in the regional politics even after his retirement from the presidency,” he said.

He said the political direction of the region should be led by the President with elders and other opinion shapers offering advice.

LEADERSHIP POSITIONS
Of the counties that were part of the former Central province, there are strong murmurs that Kiambu and Nyeri, the two that have produced presidents in the past, the two Kenyattas and Mr Kibaki, should let this one pass in the spirit of brotherhood.

Those from Meru, such as South Imenti MP Kathuri Murungi, said it was their turn to lead the region.

“In order for us to get a kingpin, we must unite the people from Meru to Tharaka-Nithi,” he said.

He added that the appointment of Mr Munya to the Cabinet put to rest wrangling among the leaders.

“However, we would like the President to intervene on the grumbling in Tharaka-Nithi County and consider them for the remaining positions,” the MP said.

MUNYA'S PLEDGE

He said there is need for the region to be strategically placed to front a leader who can serve as deputy president in 2022.

“We are behind Deputy President William Ruto but we must have our conditions. We must negotiate for every government position.

"There is no shortage of leaders to take up this responsibility in the region,” Mr Murungi said.

Ahead of his appointment to the Cabinet, Mr Munya had said he would reconsider his 2022 presidential ambitions if he joined the public service.

Additional reporting by David Muchui and Wanjohi Githae