By Anderson Ojwang
The once stormy, rough, and restive lake that captured national and international news for its political fights and rivalry seems to have exorcised the demons to the mountain.
The mountain, which previously was the Royal Palace, Seat of Power, and spoke in one chord, is today faced with a political volcanic eruption over kingship as River Chania roars and promises to sweep its path down the hills.
The stormy, roaring River Chania and the threat of a possible volcanic eruption in Mt. Kenya are opening up a new chapter in the country’s political landscape as Nyeri and Kiambu face off.
The current Murima war is similar to the political battle in Nyanza after independence between the first Vice President, the late Oginga Odinga, who controlled Siaya and Kisumu, and then KANU Secretary and Minister for Economic Planning Tom Joseph Mboya, who controlled Southern Nyanza.
After decades of sitting at the Palace and determining the socio-economic and political dispensation in the country, Murima is currently confined to the unfamiliar territory of the lonely opposition bench. The mountain is just about to erupt.
Former President Uhuru Kenyatta has a date with his once political assistant turned bitter rival, the impeached Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, over the region’s kingpin seat and the 2027 presidential election.
Smarting from the loss to Gachagua in the 2022 general and presidential elections, Uhuru has his eyes trained on the community leadership through his party, the Jubilee Party of Kenya.
In the last general election, Uhuru supported Azimio la Umoja presidential candidate Raila Odinga but lost the battle for votes in all Mt. Kenya counties.
For instance, in Kirinyaga County, the home turf of Raila’s running mate Martha Karua, Ruto got 84 percent of the votes, accounting for 220,752 votes, while Raila got a paltry 14 percent, accounting for 37,978 votes.
In Kiambu County, the home ground of President Uhuru, Ruto managed 72.9 percent of the votes, amounting to 606,105, while Raila only managed 25 percent, accounting for 210,495.
Again, in Nyeri County, Rigathi’s village, Ruto received 82.79 percent of the votes, amounting to 272,577, while Raila got 15.3 percent, accounting for 52,043 votes.
Finally, in Murang’a, Ruto got 81 percent of the votes, accounting for 343,421, while Raila got a paltry 17 percent, accounting for 73,539 votes.
Through the Jubilee Party, Uhuru is grooming his former Internal Security Cabinet Secretary, Dr. Fred Matiang’i, to be the sixth president and possibly the community leader.
Meanwhile, Gachagua, through his new political vehicle, Democracy for Citizens Party (DCP), wants to control Murima and has formed a united opposition alliance with Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka, Eugene Wamalwa of DAP-K, Governor George Natembeya, and Martha Karua, while Matiang’i, who was once a member of the group, is now viewed as a pariah.
During the Jubilee National Delegates Conference, which was attended by Matiang’i but skipped by members of the United Opposition Alliance, Uhuru came out guns blazing and termed the move to balkanize a region to belong to a particular political party as retrogressive and against the tenets of democracy.
“I handed over the country’s leadership peacefully. What I got for that were abuses, theft of my sheep, and the burning of my farm. I have remained quiet. Our mission from the onset as Jubilee Party was to have a national party that is inclusive and not regional.
Balkanization of a region on a political divide is wrong and not in the interest of national unity. Let us have national parties that share common ideologies and are not grounded on ethnicity and regions.
We have begun a process of rejuvenating our party with a new crop of leaders inspired by a new generation.
We want our party Jubilee to give Kenyans an opportunity to lead and govern the country, and this is our objective.
I have decided that I will henceforth come out to popularize the party as we prepare for the next general elections, and it is our wish to field candidates for all elective positions,” he said.
But Gachagua has maintained that Mt. Kenya is a DCP stronghold and other political parties are being fronted by President Ruto.
DCP Deputy Party Leader Cleophas Malala claimed that the relaunch of the Jubilee Party was a tactic to undermine DCP in Mt. Kenya and was a scheme by President Ruto to weaken the popularity of the party in the region.
“If you are in united opposition, you should not come to divide our stronghold. Currently, DCP is the party of Mt. Kenya, and Jubilee has been sent to weaken us by President Ruto,” he claimed.
But Jubilee Secretary Jeremiah Kioni claimed Gachagua was trying to blackmail and bully the Jubilee Party into submission in the leadership of the region.
“Gachagua is trying to blackmail and bully Jubilee and Matiang’i out of the Mt. Kenya region. This is to delay Matiang’i’s presidency, and I don’t see that working. Gachagua was scared about our recent NDC.
DCP found Jubilee having run the country for 10 years, and Gachagua found me in the opposition wearing a sufuria and called me a mad man.
You cannot come to the opposition and start bullying us as if there was nothing we were doing. You were doing press-ups and teargassing us during the demonstrations.
Gachagua is like any other politician in Mt. Kenya, just like Moses Kuria. It is sad that he is trying to balkanize a region, which is not useful and is likely to create hatred and bad feelings in the Mt. Kenya region,” he said.
Kioni claimed that Gachagua was working with President Ruto after he was allegedly told so by a politician from Narok County who had visited the former DP.
