Wanjiru says she is ready to take up a Government appointment after ditching ODM

NAIROBI, KENYA: Former assistant minister Margaret Wanjiru has resurfaced after months of absence from the political scene. However, the ex-Starehe MP’s decision to quit ODM less than two months after her son, Steve Kariuki, won the Mathare by-election on the party’s ticket surprised observers.

Political analysts and politicians in ODM say all indications are that Wanjiru could be headed to the Jubilee Alliance as she seeks to re-invent herself in Nairobi politics. She announced her departure from ODM two weeks ago. In an interview with The Standard on Sunday, Wanjiru said three political parties had asked her to join them, but noted she would make a decision in two weeks after consultations with supporters.

In what could confirm she is headed to Jubilee, Wanjiru says she is ready to take up a Government appointment if one came her way. “There are no offers on the table for now, but Nairobians will appreciate if that happens because there is no one in the Jubilee Government who connects well with them,” she said.

While ODM has termed Wanjiru’s departure as inconsequential, there are those who feel she has left a gap in the former Prime Minister Raila Odinga-led outfit. “Wanjiru gave the Orange party the much-needed national image, being its most visible member in Nairobi and to an extent, the Mt Kenya region. That was important for the party in cultivating a national image,” says political analyst Francis Opar.

Her decision to cut links with the party now leaves Nominated MP Isaac Mwaura, Tigania East MP Mpuru Aburi and Kariuki, the Starehe MP, as the party’s remaining high profile leaders from the Mt Kenya region. Mpuri, in recent times, associates more with Jubilee than CORD.

Party primaries

Wanjiru said she left ODM after a fallout over party primaries ahead of last year’s General Election. She has declared she is ready to work with any political party,  but emphasised ODM was not among them.

“We do not expect Wanjiru to head anywhere else apart from TNA. But her departure is of no consequence because she has benefited more from ODM than the party has benefited from her. In fact, she should be grateful to the party for what she is politically today,” Suna East MP Mohamed Junet said.

CORD Deputy Chief Whip in the National Assembly Chris Wamalwa said the Opposition coalition would remain strong in city politics even after her departure. “By the coalition winning the Mathare by-election and snatching the seat from Jubilee, it demonstrated it was gaining momentum in city politics and nothing is about to reverse it,” said Wamalwa, the Kiminini MP.

ODM Executive Director Magerer Langat said Wanjiru was yet to present her resignation letter to the party headquarters. “MP Kariuki is an independent-minded personality and people should not think that since the mother has left the party, he will also leave,” said Mr Magerer.

Mombasa Senator Hassan Omar (CORD) said Wanjiru should count herself lucky for having been given a “free” senatorial nomination ticket, and her son Kariuki a “free” parliamentary nomination ticket.

But Wanjiru told the KTN Morning Show recently that Kariuki was never given direct nomination and that he fought other competitors and secured the ticket. She said she was leaving because ODM betrayed her in a pre-election agreement entered last year.

”There are those saying I forgive ODM, but how many times have I forgiven? I have a future and dreams and I cannot kill dreams for the sake of others,” said Wanjiru.

She first spoke of her departure last Saturday during her graduation at St Paul’s University in Limuru, and reiterated   during the television interview.

In the 2013 General Election, Wanjiru was beaten by Nairobi County Senator Mike Sonko. After that she disappeared from the political scene to concentrate on her studies and church work.

Inconsequential decision

Before shifting to the senatorial race, she was barred from contesting the gubernatorial seat after her degree in theology from Vineyard Harvester Bible College and her bachelor’s degree in Christian leadership from United Graduate College and Seminary International were rejected by the Commission for University Education.

In Mathare Constituency, the ODM leadership termed Wanjiru’s decision to ditch the party inconsequential. Led by sub-branch Organising Secretary Patrick Lumumba, they said her departure would not shake ODM’s popularity in Nairobi. Mr Lumumba and former Mathare parliamentary aspirant Anthony Oluoch accused Wanjiru of being ungrateful.

“The support Wanjiru has given to the party and its leader Raila Odinga has always been partisan. But what is on the ground is that the ODM support in Nairobi and Mathare remain steadfast and even more solid,” Oluoch said.

Mwaura, when asked on what he thought about Wanjiru’s defection from ODM, said: “ I do not want to be drawn into that even though we are both from the Central Kenya region.”

Former Makadara MP Reuben Ndolo says ODM was strong enough in the city, given it currently heads the County Government by virtue of Governor Evans Kidero being one of its top members.

In parliamentary dominance, CORD has eight parliamentary seats after winning Mathare in August, as compared to Jubilee which has nine.

CORD has more elected Members of the County Assembly (MCAs) in the city, while Jubilee holds the position of Senator and County Women Representative

The control of city politics is key to the rival coalitions given its position as the administrative and commercial capital of the republic, and the fact that what happens in Nairobi, in one way or the other, dictates national politics.

ODM’s Director of Political Affairs at its Orange House headquarters Wafula Buke says the party is a movement and that when one person like Wanjiru disembarks, there can be no much effect on its stability and popularity in the city or nationally.