A section of Mt Kenya MPs has thrown their weight behind Deputy President William Ruto’s 2022 presidential bid, days after another faction endorsed ODM leader Raila Odinga.
In a statement sent to the newsroom on Saturday, the MPs drawn from 11 counties of the region said it is only through the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) led by DP Ruto that their interests and that of their people will be catered for.
The counties include Meru, Tharaka Nithi, Embu, Kirinyaga, Nyeri, Murang’a, Kiambu, Nyandarua, Laikipia, Nakuru and Nairobi.
“We have resolved to canvass the agenda of the people we represent on the platform of UDA, a political party we have formed together with other Kenyans from across the nation in a political movement that currently has the support of millions of Kenyans, MCAs, Governors and more than 150 MPs from all corners of the country,” they said.
Track record
According to the statement, the leaders settled on DP Ruto after carefully weighing the current presidential candidates based on their understanding of issues dear to the region, their track record, ability to get serve the country.
We have weighed the presidential candidates in terms of their ability to muster support across the generational divide, their track record in delivery of national public commitments, and their passion for work and sacrifice to the unity of the nation and feel DP Ruto ticks all boxes,” read the statement.
The leaders cited Ruto’s track record as MP for Eldoret North, when he served in the Agriculture and Higher Education ministries and his contribution, especially in the first term and the as some of the selling points that have attracted them.
They urge Kenyans to be part of the new non-tribal, non-sectarian political dispensation under the UDA party anchored on the new revolutionary bottom-up economic model.
They vowed to ensure the Mt Kenya region break free from ethnic mobilisation and personality cult to that of national political organisation anchored on people-centric issues.
Raila’s Mt Kenya forays
On Friday, Key political figures led by Eastern Mt Kenya led by Meru Governor Kiraitu Murungi declared their support for Raila’s bid.
The politicians vowed to dismantle political propaganda used against Raila for years in the region that has always voted against him to the last man.
The governor led the leaders in confessing how part of their strategy in the past against Raila has been to demonise him among the over six million registered voters.
He sought to demonstrate that Raila has no ill intention against the region and revisited the 2002 famous “Kibaki Tosha” declaration by the former premier that swept the retired president to power.
He recalled how Raila took charge of the campaigns after Kibaki’s road accident. “Kibaki became president when Raila declared “Kibaki Tosha”. It is Raila who carried on with the campaigns when Kibaki got injured. He said the match had to go on even when the captain was injured,” said Kiraitu.
He said since Raila had always been their main challenger, part of their scheme during the 2007, 2013 and 2017 elections was to paint the opposition chief “black”.
“We are the ones who demonised Raila for Kibaki to win; we are the same people who demonised him for Uhuru to win,” he said.
He went on, “But now things have changed. Kibaki and Uhuru are not running; so the lies have no place. Raila is now a hero of the ‘handshake’.”
The leaders tasked Raila to ensure their interests are taken care of for them to back his presidential bid next year.
ANC leader Musalia Mudavadi has been also making forays in the Mount Kenya region since July ahead of the 2022 polls.
Stung by the two rulings from the High Court and Court of Appeal that declared the Building Bridges Initiative unconstitutional, Mudavadi has started creating a niche for himself away from other One Kenya Alliance leaders.
In July, Mudavadi, who was accompanied by Nambale MP Sakwa Bunyasi, Vihiga County MP Beatrice Adagala and Nairobi Senator Johnstone Sakaja, said the tour of Mt Kenya counties was part of his efforts to meet Kenyans across the country.
Mudavadi has already met with Nyandarua Governor Francis Kimemia and Nakuru County boss Lee Kinyanjui in two separate meetings.
“I will also visit other counties. I’m on the road reaching out to people and discussing their vision and if they choose to support me I will be grateful,” the ANC leader said.
He described the tour as an effort to exchange ideas with various people in the counties because he believed in the impact of devolution.
After meeting Nyeri Governor Mutahi Kahiga, the two visited various development projects including Asian Quarters Bus Termini before meeting youth and women groups from across the county.
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