Uhuru’s last efforts that saved TNA

By Francis Ngige and Boniface Gikandi

It took a last minute intervention by Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta to capture the Kangema parliamentary seat and two civic seats in the Central Kenya region in the just concluded by-election.

With a week to go, Mr Kenyatta was staring at the possibility of losing the battle before it had actually begun. He is using The National Alliance (TNA) as his vehicle to State House and the presidency.

Some observers had already started celebrating TNA’s loss of face over what they perceived to be inevitable defeat.

However, Mr Kenyatta moved swiftly and decisively, virtually camping at the constituency and literally pleading with voters not to embarrass him.

To avert what appeared to be TNA’s looming defeat, Mr Kenyatta made extensive tour of the constituency on two occasions, pleading with voters not to humiliate him and give his party a chance.

This was evident in one of his whistle stop campaign tours in Mukarara.

“If the TNA candidate, Tirus Ngahu, does not go through, this will be viewed as a failure for Uhuru. Please do not humiliate me,” he pleaded.

He tugged at the voters’ heart strings when he added “Ma ya Ngai murenda kunjonora? (In God’s name, why do you want to humiliate me?)”.

And these magic words seem to have borne fruits as the constituents ultimately backed Mr Ngahu to replace John Njoroge Michuki who dominated the area politics for nearly three decades.

An analytical look at Mr Kenyatta’s style of salvaging his candidate and TNA brings back memories of the tactic employed by President Mwai Kibaki in 2007, when a myriad of parties endlessly squabbled for his attention and resources.

Instead of appointing point men and women to drive the campaign, Mr Kenyatta personally took charge and directly appealed to voters without allying himself to incumbent MPs from the area.

In Kangema, Mr Kenyatta conducted the campaigns personally appealing to the electorates to support The National Alliance (TNA) candidate Mr Ngahu.

 He ignored the MPs and aspirants for other county seats, who were hoping to be roped in the campaigns and instead decided to drive the agenda alone for fear of a political backlash.

The stakes were so high that Uhuru even personally intervened and involved himself in the civic campaigns for Ikinu ward in Githunguri,  Kiambu county  and Mutira ward in Kirinyaga.

Like Kangema, the two seats were on the brink of being snatched up by rival political parties, a development which would have left Mr Kenyatta with egg on the face, given that Mutira seat is in Martha Karua’s home turf.

A defeat in Mutira would have sent signals that TNA was weaker in Kirinyaga, while in Ikinu, defeat would have painted a picture of a presidential candidate who had no solid base even in his home county.

He wanted to show the political mettle of the new outfit as well as send a message to his competitors that he was sharpening daggers for the main battle next year.

At the time Mr Kenyatta rolled up his sleeves and undertook door to door campaign in  Kangema, Musalia Mudavadi’s United Democratic Forum (UDF) was causing ripples in Kangema and it was clear that it was almost causing an upset.

UDF candidate, Simon Kamau Mwangi had traversed the constituency and appeared set to claim victory.

Waiting by the sidelines was the Party of National Unity (PNU) whose flag bearer had the conviction that with the late John Michuki being its member, the seat was rightly theirs.

PNU fielded Kimani Mugo a loser in the 2007 polls against Mr Michuki, and his mobilising skills were giving TNA sleepless nights. Now that both Michuki and his influential wife Watiri had died, the loser thought it was his time to reign supreme.

Another cause for alarm for Mr Kenyatta was the foray made by Prime Minister Raila Odinga who arrived in the constituency two days before the polls, accompanied by former Mungiki leader Maina Njenga.

Mr Njenga’s Mkenya Solidarity Party was in a loose alliance with ODM and had fielded John Gathogo who the PM was campaigning for.

 The combined onslaught by ODM/Mkenya solidarity however did not yield much as Gathogo was whitewashed for he only managed a paltry 409 votes in a constituency with 37, 800 registered voters.

Mr Ngahu’s triumph in the by election confirmed that the Michuki family’s dominance of politics in Kangema is far from over. Before his demise, Mr Michuki had caused uproar when he publicly declared that Mr Kenyatta was his preferred presidential candidate.

After his death, his wife, Josephine Waitiri asserted that the family had no wish to offer any of its members to contest the seat but declared that Mr Ngahu was the family’s preferred candidate.

Although Mrs Michuki died before the by-election, her wish was fulfilled as her preferred candidate and party won.

It appears that the family’s dominance in local politics did not die with the late minister and his wife.

From the look of things, the two have continued calling the shots from their graves as Watiri’s decision to support Ngahu swayed the voters who ensured that her will prevailed.

Before she died, she had endorsed Mr Ngahu who went ahead and won the TNA primaries and eventually claimed the subsequent prize.

Immediately after his was declared winner, Mr Ngahu said his win was a win for TNA and Mr Kenyatta.

“Kangema people have shown the political direction that the Mt Kenya is supposed to follow. Uhuru has and remains our preferred presidential candidate,” said Mr Ngahu.

The MP-elect praised the role played by Uhuru in his campaigns saying the deputy Premier was a respected leader in the area and that is why his wish was respected.

“In TNA we believe in fairness. After I beat the other candidates in the party nominations, Uhuru came out strongly to support me as he had indicated that he would campaign for the winner,” said Mr Ngahu.

Nairobi Metropolitan Minister Jamleck Kamau also lauded Mr Kenyatta saying the outcome had defined the political direction of the Mt Kenya region.

“Uhuru commands respect across the region and this landslide win is clear that he is our preferred presidential candidate,” said Mr Kamau.

His campaign strategy of sidelining aspiring politicians and sitting MPs also seemed to have paid off as TNA went ahead to grab the Ikinu and Mutira civic seats.

By sidestepping the MPs and other candidates, Mr Kenyatta cleverly avoided being drawn in their differences which would have cost him had he opted to take sides.

 In Kirinyaga for example, Mwangi Kiunjuri’s Grand National Union nearly clinched the Mutira Civic ward despite Mr Kenyatta campaigning for Ezekiel Githinji of TNA.

Some voters opposed to the presence of Finance Minister Njeru Githae in the campaigns had allegedly threatened to “teach” TNA a lesson and it took the intervention former Foreign Affairs Permanent Secretary, Joseph Ndathi for the party to bag the seat.

Ndathi made a last ditch appeal to voters pleading with them that a defeat for TNA would be seen as a loss to Uhuru.

Githinji who polled 2, 393 narrowly defeated David Kinyua by a mere 15 votes.