The gazettement of new board and parastatal appointments yesterday rattled the Tanga Tanga wing of Jubilee as President Uhuru Kenyatta moved to restore his fortunes in the Mt Kenya region.
And as the reality of the appointments began to sink in, it emerged that the President was placing more focus on his Central Kenya backyard which has of late attracted a lot of activity from the Tanga Tanga formation as succession politics take centre stage.
Persons believed to be close to the ‘Kieleweke’ team dominated the list of appointments announced in the Special Gazette notice that came out yesterday.
Grumbling
“The President cares for all regions and is aware of the various grievances (on equity). He is also tapping into the various talents and competencies even as he balances on the grivances. You will be surprised to know the wealth of experience the people he has chosen have,” Dennis Waweru, the newly appointed chair of Kenya Investment Authority said.
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Central Kenya took home more than 50 per cent of the about 80 appointments.
Nyeri Town MP Ngunjiri Wambugu insisted that the president went for those people who will support his agenda.
Nominated MP Maina Kamanda said the President was free to appoint anyone he wanted to work for his legacy, whether a Tanga Tanga or a Kieleweke.
“These are people who went out of their way to help the President mobilise the people during the last election and it is only fair for the President to remember them. They are people with grassroots support, I think going forward the President knows he can easily call on them because even though he will not be running in 2022 he will still needs people to count on,” Mathioya MP Peter Kimari said.
To illustrate the President’s focus, the seats were distributed among the region’s counties, with Kiambu getting the bulk at 16 posts.
Spread across
Nyeri, which had been grumbling of neglect by two successive regimes, got 15.
It was followed by Murang’a with 12 slots. And just like Nyeri, the county has received its fair share of wooing from the DP, with most elected leaders eloping with him in his 2022 dreams.
Nairobi, largely considered an extension of Central, scooped a similar number - 13 - but spread across the communities in the cosmopolitan city. Meru, an important political region to Central political plans, scooped 8 appointments.
One of the country’s smallest counties - Tharaka Nithi - took home five while the expansive Nyandarua got 4, Kirinyaga 6 and Laikipia 2. Embu got 5 appointments.
Rift Valley and pastoralist counties of the North faired poorly, with a number of counties missing out altogether.
It was not any better in the larger western Kenya either. Siaya scooped five appointments, with most of the counties securing one or two positions.
Ruto’s home county of Uasin Gishu got four appointments, while Baringo bagged five. Elgeyo Marakwet got 3, while Nandi, Kericho and Bomet got one each. Central MPs had mixed reactions on the appointments, with Mathira’s Rigathi Gachagua saying it would have no impact on 2022 politics given the appointees will leave politics.
“Let people not read too much into nothing. Public servants do not get involved in politics, so how will it have an impact of 2022 when those people have been given work to do? They should leave the political scene,” he said.
Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro said he reads no politics and claimed that all appointees merited the positions.
“If we give the President all the responsibility, then we must give him the privilege to choose who he wants. I am sure the President consulted with his deputy before he made those appointments. So people should stop seeing everything from the lens of Jubilee wrangles and 2022,” added Mr Nyoro.
