Fallout looms in Mt Kenya over Jubilee Party campaign team

Senator Kiraitu Murungi

President Uhuru Kenyatta’s campaign secretariat continues to meet resistance nearly two weeks after the 61-member team was unveiled.

The reservations are centred on two issues in the Jubilee Party’s (JP) strongholds of Rift Valley and the Mt Kenya regions.

In the Rift Valley, the resentment is about the few prominent leaders from the region selected to join the secretariat. Local leaders and party supporters say the members selected may not have the gravitas to pull off the assignment they have been tasked with (see separate story).

Mt Kenya politicians are also aggrieved over the fact that the secretariat members hold political office and may use their new positions to influence nomination outcomes at the expense of their rivals.

Last week, Deputy President William Ruto’s visit to Nyeri was marred by demonstrations over the appointment of Governor Nderitu Gachagua to the secretariat.

The revolt has extended to Meru County where some aspirants protested against the choice of Senator Kiraitu Murungi to head the region’s campaign team.

Kilemi Mwiria, an adviser to the Presidency on education, said Kiraitu’s selection went against the spirit of an earlier pledge that no aspirant would be given a party position to prevent disenchantment among contestants. Dr Mwiria who, like Kiraitu and Mwenda Mbijjiwe, has stated that he will take on Peter Munya for the governor’s seat in next year’s polls, said Kiraitu’s position was untenable.

“It is unfair. He (Kiraitu) will not only be coordinator but will also control resources. The position gives him too much power to influence processes and resources. I personally think it gives him an advantage and it’s not fair,” said the former Tigania East MP, who finished behind Governor Munya in the 2013 elections.

Uncomfortable with Kiraitu

Mwiria said he, other aspirants and their supporters were uncomfortable with Kiraitu being in of control of JP, whose campaign secretariat is headed by former Cabinet minister Raphael Tuju.

“My supporters are even more worried than I am. I will consult with them and chart the way forward. This development is making supporters of aspirants think twice,” he said.

Strictly speaking, Kiraitu is not an interim official of JP. The new party officials will only be unveiled after JP holds its own elections and this will be after the next General Election.

Nevertheless, this has not appeased leaders from the Mt Kenya region. And it has not helped that some of the members of the campaign secretariat have tried to assert themselves and projected an image that they are the first among equals.

During a fundraiser for the Methodist Church at Nkubu Stadium recently, Kiraitu openly told off aspirant Gideon Thuranira, insisting that he (Kiraitu) would support Igembe South MP Mithika Linturi for the Senate seat and Woman Representative Florence Kajuju for re-election.

Kiraitu publicly declared that he would be neutral in other contests.

“I am sorry but that is our arithmetic. We have settled on Linturi,” Kiraitu told Thuranira, who later announced he would run as an independent candidate because he had been rejected by JP.

However, President Uhuru Kenyatta’s decision to select politicians to his campaign committee has been defended by some leaders. Tigania East MP Mpuru Aburi and Kiraitu’s Communication Director Patrick Muriungi said it was the prerogative of the Presidency to pick those who would produce results.

“There is absolutely no problem with Senator Kiraitu leading the JP brigade in Eastern. He is a co-founder of the party and has spent a great deal of resources to bring it into being. He is a fair man whose motivation is to see Uhuru re-elected and Deputy President Ruto elected in 2022,” said Mr Aburi.

But Imenti North MP Rahim Dawood said JP cannot afford to antagonise its supporters in Meru, especially with the Party of National Unity (PNU) lying in wait to capitalise on the fallout.

“While I congratulate Kiraitu for his appointment, we believe his position is meant to market the Jubilee Party and not to be used to politically benefit any aspirant here because we know PNU is waiting to benefit from any fallout,” said Mr Dawood.

Senator Lenny Kivuti, who is eyeing the Embu governor’s seat, said he expects JP’s nominations to be free and fair because it will be supervised by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).

However, former Jubilee Alliance Party (JAP) Nyeri branch chairman Wambugu Nyamu said members of the campaign secretariat would have an advantage over other candidates.

- Reports by Job Weru, Phares Mutembei and Joseph Muchiri