Uhuru, Ruto in quiet foray into Western region

 

              President Uhuru Kenyatta (right) and Deputy President William Ruto   PHOTO: STANDARD

By JACOB NG’ETICH

President Uhuru’s political overtures to western Kenya have run into fresh challenges – thanks to a quiet scramble with his deputy William Ruto, coupled with a new resolve by the local leaders.

While the two leaders have not openly exhibited competition between themselves, Uhuru’s backers are particularly alarmed by the fact that the Deputy President has moved fast in wooing the region politically.

Since being sworn into office, Ruto has been on a charm offensive touring western Kenya at least 10 times, the latest visit being only a fortnight ago. This was when he was chief guest during the homecoming ceremonies of Navakholo MP Emmanuel Wangwe and his Malava counterpart, Moses Malulu Injendi.  Ruto’s sustained political activities have complicated the President’s desire to venture into the region, forcing him to delay and severally postpone a tour of the region. But the President can’t wait any further and his handlers have confirmed to The Standard On Sunday that he shall be making an extensive tour of the region early next month.

Political vacuum

“Having teamed up with Raila (Odinga, former Prime Minister) in 2007 and being geographically closer, Ruto probably feels he is the natural beneficiary of the perceived political vacuum in western Kenya. But this is politics and we shall not allow him to have a headstart because the President too is interested in consolidating support across the country,” confided a senior official of the President’s The National Alliance (TNA) party.

Kenyatta’s planned visit follows a meeting with 16 MPs from the region at State House a fortnight ago, where a programme and list of wishes, including execution of development projects in the area were discussed. UDF-allied Lugari MP Ayub Savula is said to be instrumental to the President’s planned visit, including the previous ones by the Deputy President.

Many view the MP’s moves as an effort to turn the political tides in a region, which overwhelmingly voted for Raila, the Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (CORD) presidential candidate.

Savula’s manoeuvres have irked some, including Cyrus Jirongo, the immediate former area MP and leader of Federal Party of Kenya (FPK), who teamed up with Raila in the March 4 polls. Jirongo accuses Savula of playing divisive politics by trying to help Jubilee to make in-roads in the area.

“He is probably unaware that he is being misused to auction members of his community. Some of us have worked closely with Ruto for long and know him better and I want to warn my younger brother (Savula) to go about his business with Jubilee cautiously,” reacts the former Cabinet minister, who first teamed up with the Deputy President in 1992 under the Youth for Kanu (YK’92) lobby group.

Denying that he is “blindly working” with the President and his deputy, Savula says the fears of Jirongo and others are misplaced. The first-term MP explains that the basis of his cooperation with the President and his deputy is to draw up an agenda for development.

Savula maintains that in 2017, the community will throw its weight behind “one of own” by backing either former Deputy Prime Minister Musalia Mudavadi, who is also UDF party leader or Ford-Kenya leader and Senate Leader of Minority Moses Wetangula. Others probable candidates include Jirongo and Kakamega Senator Bonny Khalwale.

Besides Ruto’s regular visits, the President has been held back by some other dicey matter — the factor of former Deputy Prime Minister Musalia Mudavadi and former Justice minister Eugene Wamalwa.

Having worked closely with Uhuru during and after the March 4 polls, including entering a post-election coalition arrangement with Jubilee, many expected that the two Luhya leaders would be accommodated in Government. This has not happened and even as he heads to western Kenya, this is one slippery and discomforting factor that Uhuru has to address.