Mt Kenya MPs now plotting for President Uhuru re-election

MPs from Mt Kenya region have declared they have started assembling their arsenal ahead of the 2017 General Election.

The group consisting of senators and members of the National Assembly from the region as well as others from Nairobi and Nakuru, started a two-day retreat at the Aberdare Country Club in Nyeri to foster unity so that they can ensure President Uhuru Kenyatta wins in 2017.

They said those undermining Deputy President William Ruto's leadership should be ready to meet their wrath.

The retreat, which is a follow up of a meeting held at Panafric Hotel in Nairobi last month, was held amid claims that the group was unhappy with the recent parastatal appointments.

There have been murmurs from the leaders that President Kenyatta overlooked the region in the appointments with some MPs especially from Meru threatening to rethink their political stand.

Yesterday, the leaders led by Meru Senator Kiraitu Murungi, who is the convener of the caucus, said although the issue of appointments was part of the agenda, it was yet to be discussed.

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When they emerged after the first day's session, the MPs insisted that their main agenda was to drive Uhuru's re-election bid and protect his administration.

The leaders also promised to play a crucial role in supporting programmes to eradicate the illicit brew menace in the region.

"We shall passionately support the President and his deputy to achieve the vision of the Jubilee administration as we seek to have them re-elected," they said in a statement read by Dagoretti North MP Dennis Waweru.

There was fear that the meeting would not take place with sources indicating that President Kenyatta was against it "if it was to state displeasure with the Government over State jobs".

An MP confided to The Standard that the meeting was initially supposed to be held last month, but had to be postponed since State House was not comfortable with its agenda.

"After the Panafric meeting, where we expressed our disappointment with the disregard of the region by the President we were called at State House and warned against the caucus that would be seen as fighting the President," said the MP who did not want to be named.

One of the organisers said: "Members of the caucus decry the discrimination against their counties in the recent county revenue and Constituency Development Fund (CDF) allocations.

The leaders feel the formula used to distribute the resources is skewed based on the 2009 census which they claim was warped," he added.

The MP said yesterday's retreat was in defiance of the President's stand, since most of the MPs felt that there were serious issues that needed to be addressed.

State House Spokesman Manoah Esipisu could not be reached for comment while Munyori Buku, the Communications Director at State House, declined to comment.

After the deliberations, the MPs said they had started consolidating the operations and structure of political parties in the Jubilee coalition to join The Jubilee Alliance Party.

"We shall dialogue with like-minded parties and national leaders to ensure that the people remain united in a structured political vehicle," they said.