Kabete MP-elect Ferdinand Waititu has said he is not an outsider in Kiambu and he is there to stay.
In an apparent broadside at Governor William Kabogo, Mr Waititu said at the weekend that his shifting of the political base from Nairobi to Kiambu was similar to former president Mwai Kibaki’s decision in 1974 to relocate to Othaya in Nyeri from the city’s Bahati constituency.
“I was brought up in Kibera slums, but my ancestral home is in Kabete. My grandparents used to stay there before they moved to Ngarariga in Limuru constituency,” Waititu said at Ngewa ward in Githunguri constituency.
The former Embakasi MP, who reiterated that he will vie for the Kiambu governor’s seat in 2017, told Kabogo to stop maligning his name at every opportunity and concentrate on serving residents.
He said he is not a political novice as his critics have been portraying, having started out as councillor before becoming a deputy mayor and later Embakasi MP.
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release dossier
The sometimes controversial politician said nobody should underrate him as he lost in the Nairobi gubernatorial race by a narrow margin in the last election.
Kiambu MPs believed to be in Waititu’s camp include Kimani Ichungwah (Kikuyu), Alice Ng’ang’a (Thika Town), Kigo Njenga (Gatundu North), Mburu Kahangara (Lari), Jude Njomo (Kiambu town) and Paul Koinange (Kiambaa).
Only Moses Kuria (Gatundu South) and his Ruiru counterpart Esther Gathogo are believed to favour Kabogo’s leadership.
His remarks come in the wake of threats by Kabogo to release a dossier on him “so that the people of Kiambu can know who he truly is.” Kabogo told Waititu that the governor's position “requires serious and educated people” as it is not an easy job.
“If I were to relinquish this seat for him, he would run away in six months,” said Kabogo said at the Thika Level Five Hospital.
But Waititu, who in the past has been involved in incidents that portray him as a goon, maintained he is now a reformed person. “I was throwing stones so that I could chase away land grabbers in Embakasi to pave way for development,” he said.
