Jirongo defiant despite State House warning

By Stephen Makabila                             

Lugari MP Cyrus Jirongo is a man on the spotlight, fighting three-pronged political wars concurrently as he positions himself to put his name on the presidential ballot for the first time.

Mr Jirongo is at war with State House, which has dismissed his claims on ‘political projects’ and told him to focus on his presidential bid. On the other front, Jirongo is at war with Eldoret North MP William Ruto in the United Republican Party (URP), and is also in a supremacy battle with Deputy Prime Minister Musalia Mudavadi in their Western home-turf.

The real war, however, seems to be in URP and Jirongo is set to bolt out from the party he joined forces with Ruto to form last year, and launch his own party.

It has also emerged the two are not in talking terms and none has called the other for months.

Even after State House dismissed his claims, amid a litany of attacks from Ruto and MPs allied to him, Jirongo has remained defiant.

In an interview with The Standard On Sunday, the Lugari MP whose relationship with Ruto dates back to their Youth for Kanu ‘YK-92 Days’ describes URP as a pale shadow of what it was meant to be. He says it is a personal outfit under the Eldoret North MP’s cronies.

“The URP’s slogan was ‘Kusema na Kutenda’, but it’s now a party of ‘Kusema na Kusema’, without any focus other than being misused in the Kibaki succession matrix,” claimed Jirongo.

On State House, Jirongo says he stands by his claims because the truth was self-manifest.

 “I am not the first one to speak about it. Mudavadi once hinted while speaking in Busia that some forces wanted him to part ways politically with Prime Minister Raila Odinga and it came to pass. Other leaders including the PM, MPs Ababu Namwamba and ministers Paul Otuoma and Eugene Wamalwa have also spoken on the issue of ethnic polarisation,” added Jirongo.

President Kibaki warned Jirongo in a statement released on Tuesday, to stop being obsessed with State House.

 A statement from the Presidential Press Service had termed Jirongo’s  ‘political project’   remarks as “careless and irresponsible”.