Tharaka Nithi to host CORD and Jubilee rallies

Jubilee and CORD are set to hold rallies in the county next month.

Gatunga MCA Peter Mwabu said ODM leader Raila Odinga will tour Tharaka Constituency in mid-January.

Mr Mwabu, who was accompanied by two other MCAs, Mwenda Gataya (Mukothima) and Nevert Kinuthia (Mitheru), held a meeting with Raila on Christmas Day to plan the one-day visit.

Raila will start his caravan at Kathangachini before meeting squatters at the controversial border of Meru and Tharaka Nithi in Gatithini. He will then proceed to a public rally at Marimanti Stadium.

"Since independence, we have been throwing our weight behind the ruling coalition as Mount Kenya region, but we have not benefited in any way. We are tired and this time round we want to be different," Mr Mwabu, a Kenya National Congress (KNC) member said.

He added that Raila's tour should not cause jitters in Jubilee.

"Why are they (Jubilee) panicking when we bring Raila here? If they believe they have the support as they claim, let us meet in the ballot, this will be a shock of their lifetime," Mwabu added.

And, President Uhuru Kenyatta is said to be planning a tour of the county where he will launch development projects, among them the tarmacking of Chiakariga-Uragate road, which was earlier launched by Senator Kithure Kindiki.

The Opposition seems to have quickly taken advantage of the presumed fallout of the region's support for Jubilee, especially after Deputy President William Ruto's remarks that seemed to suggest Chuka town as the county headquarters and not Kathwana, which is the current headquarters, sparking off anti-Jubilee demos.

Ruto's remarks were interpreted to mean the Government had initiated projects worth millions of shillings in Chuka town because it was the county's headquarters.

It is after the demonstrations that Raila accompanied by ANC leader Musalia Mudavadi made their first appearance in the county to open an ODM office at Kathwana.

Prof Kindiki has affirmed that the region is locked as a Jubilee zone, and the Opposition has no agenda to better the living standards of the residents but only settle their personal interests.

Kindiki said no regime since independence has initiated more development in the region than Jubilee.

He said during the Kanu regime, the only project that touched the county was the tarmacking of the Meru-Nairobi highway.

"That road was almost being diverted to go through Nyeri route to Meru town since it was to connect the home town of the then administrator when the road passed through this route he complained that his home was invaded through the back door," Kindiki said.

"With just four years in power, Jubilee has initiated several projects in the county, among them tarmacking of three key roads in each constituency, which are ongoing concurrently, construction of a state-of-the-art stadium in Kirubia whose tendering process is underway. Others are a multi-million-shilling irrigation scheme in Kirumi kia Mujiari in Maara, lighting and tarmacking of Chuka town streets, just to mention but a few," he added.

Raila and Mudavadi urged locals to support the Opposition.