When double-speak and ‘listening to the ground’ become the magic wands

Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru ditched Jubilee Party for DP William Ruto's UDA.

They have mastered the art of shifting allegiances. For politicians, loyalty is a variable and is offered to whoever can assure political survival.

A politician’s justification for trading their loyalty is never complete without the mention of “I will listen to the people or the ground,” a realisation that only comes months to an election from persons who have spent four years playing deaf to the said “ground.”

The past year has seen politicos wipe out the wax off their ears, making the voices from the people, who almost always dictate the kind of friends one should keep, more audible.

That Meru Governor Kiraitu Murungi may be rethinking his support for a prospective Raila Odinga presidency sums up a year punctuated with U-turns for the political class.

Until recently, Kiraitu was resolute in his support for Raila, hosting the Meru edition of the ODM leader’s Azimio la Umoja rallies. That is changing.

“It is the bus that will make that decision... We will consult the drivers of the bus, who are party officials, as well as the ward representatives and they will tell us the candidate our people in the villages want,” the governor said recently in Meru. 

First elected

Kiraitu’s ground has spoken before, telling him to change parties six times since 1992, when he was first elected South Imenti lawmaker on a Ford Kenya ticket.

The oracles spoke again in 1997, announcing that it was time to move to Mwai Kibaki’s Democratic Party, before leading him to the National Rainbow Coalition five years later. By 2007, the ground spoke about the Party of National Unity before it sang the tune of the Alliance Party of Kenya in 2013.

Then it goaded him into the Jubilee Party. Alas, the oracles have delivered him into the waiting arms of his new ‘mbus’ – the Devolution Empowerment Party.

The Meru Governor’s statement suggests that the ground is, perhaps, yet to make its wishes sufficiently clear.

Anne Waiguru’s ground did not stutter. In October, it told the Kirinyaga Governor that she should abandon Raila and the moribund Jubilee Party, and move to Deputy President William Ruto’s camp.

Waiguru heard the calls months earlier and, naturally, ignored them, choosing to interpret the noises as calls to back Raila’s bid, posing for photos with the former premier to prove her commitment. But she was only waiting for the opportune moment to jump ship.

“Mimi nitasema sio mimi nilisema. Niliuliza wananchi na vile wananchi wanasema ndio njia tutafuata (I will say it – joining Ruto – isn’t my doing. I asked wananchi and I will stick to their decision),” she would pre-empt her exit at a rally in Thiba Ward, Kirinyaga County, in September, a move she would make official days later.

Laikipia Women Rep Cate Waruguru must have heard what Waiguru heard, choosing to join the governor in Ruto’s United Democratic Alliance.

Waruguru would fit the role of the Biblical Saul and his road to Damascus moment, only that she experienced this moment twice.

She started out as a supporter of President Uhuru Kenyatta and Ruto in 2017 when she was first elected to Parliament.

Uhuru’s wars with Ruto pushed him to Ruto’s side, and Waruguru became one of the DP’s most ardent supporters, lashing out at Raila and his team.

Her first U-turn would come in June 2020, when she returned to Uhuru’s camp, and, eventually, Raila’s. 

After paying attention to the fabled ground, Waruguru made the switch last month and isn’t looking back.

Kisii Deputy Governor Joash Maangi must be the male version, politically, of Waruguru.

Elected on ODM ticket in 2013, Maangi would soon hawk Jubilee to his constituents. That was before he had a change of heart in 2016 and returned as ODM’s prodigal son. As soon as he secured re-election he was at it again, putting all his eggs inside Ruto’s ‘hustler’ basket. 

But the deputy governor has recently gone full circle, abandoning Ruto for Raila. He attended Raila’s Azimio la Umoja Kasarani rally to show he was out of the hustler nation for good.

He is eyeing the Kisii governorship and is probably listening to the ground, too, as are other politicians from the region who include Kitutu Chache MP Richard Onyonka, Ford-K’s deputy leader who supports Raila.

Luhya unity

Earlier in June, Mandera Governor Ali Roba deserted Ruto for Raila, paving the way for more defectors. Malava lawmaker Mululu Injendi followed the cue in August, leaving Ruto for Musalia Mudavadi’s Amani National Congress in search of Luhya unity, in line with keeping with the people’s interests.

In June last year, West Pokot Governor John Lonyangapuo was in trouble with Kanu over his links to Ruto. In slightly over a year, he is emerging as the face of Raila’s campaigns in the Rift Valley, as is former Ruto die-hard Pokot South MP David Pkosing.?

More ground-induced U-turns await as the country ushers in the election year.

Those straddling the political fence, too, may follow Nyeri Governor Mutahi Kahiga and Maragwa MP Mary Wamaua’s cue to declare their stand in line with ‘what the people want.’

The phenomenon is not limited to politicians. ‘Technocrats’, too have had a change of heart.

Such was the case when economist David Ndii, a former Raila ally who once suggested he would leave the country if Ruto became president, joined the DP, turning into a champion of his bottom-up economic model. And now, Ndii loves throwing brickbats at the UDA party.