Governor Munya came to my house without a bike or wife, says Kiraitu

Tigania East MP Mpuru Aburi last week told a church harambee in Meru that Governor Peter Munya should respect Senator Kiraitu Murungi because he (Munya) would not be where he is today were it not for Kiraitu whom, it is claimed, helped him become governor.

Governor Munya and Senator Kiraitu, both lawyers, will face off in the 2017 elections for governor of Meru, in what promises to be a fierce, dust-raising contest.

Kiraitu’s allies claim Munya met his wife Phoebe while working at Kiraitu’s law firm. Phoebe, claims Aburi, was then working at the office of the senator’s wife.

“When Munya first went to Kiraitu’s office, he didn’t have a kimamo (house), a bicycle or even a mwekuru (wife). I am surprised that the governor today does not have an iota of respect for the senator.

“Munya is like a man who, together with a group of friends, went to harvest honey, but after he is hoisted up the tree and reaches the honey, only throws down honeycombs to the rest of the party. We have decided to smoke him out of the tree with Kiraitu bringing semi-dry leaves, Linturi the firewood and (County Woman Rep) Florence Kajuju a matchbox,” declared Aburi.

But Governor Munya scoffed at the suggestions that he owes his success in life to his former ally-turned-foe, Senator Kiraitu. He says that even though his first job in 1994 was at Kiraitu’s former law firm, it does not mean that the senator had a defining presence in his life.

“For the record, I went for pupilage at that law firm through the influence of another partner - Kathurima M’Inoti (now a Court of Appeal judge). The people who guided me there were M’Inoti and Kamau Kuria,” said Munya. “As a matter of fact, Kiraitu was a silent partner then, having been elected as Ford-Kenya MP for South Imenti in 1992.”

Pupilage is compulsory hands-on training that law graduates must undertake under the guidance of registered lawyers for them to be admitted to the bar.

“The fact that you offer pupilage does not mean you own those who pass through your hands,” added an angry Munya.

“It is as preposterous as the claim that Kiraitu helped me become Meru governor when I was already a two-term MP in 2013. It leaves me wondering whether he also made me MP,” he chided.

According to the governor, the sentiments perpetrated the belief that “Kiraitu made me and he can unmake me,” yet when “I started the pupilage at Kamau Kuria and Kiraitu Advocates, the senator did not even know me,” said Munya. “I want to put it on record because they will next be saying that he gave me a scholarship to study for my LLM at the University of Georgia.”