Uhuru visits Nyeri for music fete gala amid 2022 debate

What you need to know:

  • President to come face-to-face with elected leaders in the region, who have defied his orders to stop early election campaigns, and endorsed Mr Ruto for the top job in 2022.
  • On Thursday, a group of elders from the Luo community asked President Kenyatta to back Mr Odinga in the 2022 elections.

  • They hit out at the elders’ body, known as Myoot, for dictating which presidential candidate to support in 2022.

President Uhuru Kenyatta heads to Nyeri County today amid intense lobbying from camps allied to Deputy President William Ruto and opposition leader Raila Odinga to win his support in the 2022 elections.

It is expected that the President will come face-to-face with elected leaders in the region, who have defied his orders to stop early election campaigns, and endorsed Mr Ruto for the top job in 2022.

The President has since the repeat presidential election of October 26 asked Jubilee leaders to keep off succession politics and focus on development and implementation of the ‘Big Four’ agenda.

CAMPAIGN

Governor Mutahi Kahiga and five MPs have been at the forefront in campaigning for Mr Ruto in the region, with the only opposition coming from Nyeri Town MP Ngunjiri Wambugu.

Yesterday, the MPs, led by Mr Rigathi Gachagua (Mathira), said they had not defied the President and that they were only engaging in development initiatives.

“The issue of 2022 succession was discussed and agreed on in 2013 so there is nothing to debate. You cannot campaign when the election is four years away,” said Mr Gachagua.

His Tetu counterpart, Mr Gichuhi Mwangi, said that as politicians, they were only affirming that the President and his deputy were working together. “We are politicians and we must engage in politics. This does not mean we are defiant,” he said.

COMPLAINTS

But Mr Wambugu disagreed with them, accusing them of going against the President’s instructions.

“He has been very categorical that he does not want campaigns but some leaders have turned a blind eye to his directives,” he said.

Mr Kenyatta will be in Nyeri to host the finalists of the Kenya National Music Festivals at the Sagana State Lodge.

Mr Wambugu told the Daily Nation that the elected leaders were lobbying for a meeting with the President to register their complaints.

Mr Gachagua said: “There are many projects going on and others at the procurement stage but government has not done what people wanted.”

RESOLUTIONS

On Thursday, a group of elders from the Luo community asked President Kenyatta to back Mr Odinga in the 2022 elections, saying the opposition chief was best placed to realise the Building Bridges Initiative after 2022.

The group, commonly known as the Luo Council of Elders, said Mr Odinga was now in a better position to succeed President Kenyatta in 2022 following the March 9 handshake.

“The implementation of the nine-point agenda agreed on by the two leaders (Mr Odinga and President Kenyatta) can only be fully implemented by themselves. If President Kenyatta retires in 2022, then Mr Odinga, as the cosignatory to the March 9 deal, will be the best placed person to effect the resolutions,” said the council’s executive director, Mzee Owino Nyady.

A section of Kalenjin elders, on the other hand, dismissed demands from a rival group that President Kenyatta support Mr Ruto in the 2022 race.

ELECTORATE

They hit out at the elders’ body, known as Myoot, for dictating which presidential candidate to support in 2022. They urged other politicians who have declared interest in running for the high office in 2022 to visit the region and sell their manifestos to the voters.

“Everybody is free to run for the presidency and it is up to the electorate to decide,” said Mzee Chepkieng Chesoi from Elgeyo Marakwet County.

“The Myoot elders are an advisory group and not a political outfit. The decision to support Mr Ruto for the presidency is a clear indication that they have already taken sides,” said Mzee David Chepsiror from Nandi.

This comes after the Myoot elders led by chairman Major (rtd) John Seii, demanded that Mr Ruto be rewarded for being loyal to President Kenyatta and challenged their counterparts from central Kenya to support his 2022 presidential bid.

LEADERSHIP

“In 2013, Myoot elders agreed to support Uhuru Kenyatta and, in return, he should back Mr Ruto when it comes to his quest for the presidency,” said Major (rtd) Seii.

But the rival group disputed this, saying the community should be left to decide who succeeds President Kenyatta.

“As a community, we voted for President Uhuru Kenyatta in the last two general elections because of his quality leadership and we will support a candidate with similar qualities,” said Albert Katam from Trans Nzoia County.

In Kisumu, the Luo elders urged Mr Odinga to throw his hat in the presidential ring one more time, saying he stood a big chance of winning the contest.

Reported by Grace Gitau, Joseph Wangui, Justus Ochieng and Barnabas Bii