The ruling coalition has a comfortable two-thirds majority in parliament (including many bought defectors), yet William Ruto is extremely restless, and very fearful of Jubilee party, that has only a handful of MPs.
Any person who claims that battle for Jubilee is Uhuru Kenyatta Vs Kanini Kega/Sabina Chege must either be:
1. Lying deliberately, or;
2. Very naive.
It is Ruto who is determined to forcefully take control of Jubilee party.
Kanini and Sabina are mere puppets.
Interestingly, though Ruto has huge majority in parliament, meaning he can change the constitution if he wanted, he doesn’t appear to be interested in doing that.
Why?
Because he knows this parliamentary majority does not represent situation on the ground.
In Mt Kenya region, where all MPs support Ruto, there is belief among general public that they don’t currently have a “political kingpin” i.e. undisputed local leader.
This is despite the fact that the no. 2 in this regime comes from the region.
How is that possible?
Shouldn’t he be the automatic Mt Kenya “political kingpin”?
A lot of people in Mt Kenya region have started believing that they don’t appear to be represented in parliament, even if every constituency has an MP.
The only bill that has been taken to current parliament by a Mountain MP, was about demanding that retired president Uhuru Kenyatta’s pension must not be paid.
The bill was by KAGEGE MP for Gatundu South (Kagege, noun: Mt Kenya politician who is incapable of representing his/her constituents’ interests, because he is in William Ruto’s pocket).
Certainly, that wouldn’t help people of Gatundu South. It wouldn’t help people of Mt Kenya region. And it wouldn’t be of any assistance to Kenya in general.
NB: KAGEGE (plural – TUGEGE) comes from Gĩkũyũ word, kũgega, equivalent to Swahili word kuzubaa.
Increasingly, people from the Mountain have started describing their MPs/Senators as TUGEGE.
This is because, despite the many problems people in the region are having, these “elected” representatives, do not appear to be concerned…
Since this regime came into power, wananchi have seen:
– Coffee prices drop;
– Tea prices drop;
– Milk prices drop;
– Flooding of market with poisonous sugar;
– Flooding of Mountain region with suspicious, cheap alcohol;
– Rumours of presence of suspicious cheap maize & unga…
Locals would expect their “elected” representatives to highlight these problems, and push for solutions.
But their “elected” representatives cannot do that, because they are TUGEGE.
Ruto has been told by his local and foreign advisers that, if Jubilee (or any other party that is strong in Mt Kenya region) is allowed to operate independent of him, and push for solutions to these problems, his local TUGEGE would become useless, and start being seen as traitors.
On top of that, wananchi would start wondering how these TUGEGE became MPs/Senators/Governors/MCAs in the first place.
That would make the wool come off the peoples’ eyes…
According to Ruto’s advisers, such a scenario must be stopped from happening by all means necessary.
What Jubilee, or Any Other Party That is Serious About Being Major Player in Mt Kenya Politics Should Do
As soon as possible, appoint ACTING PARTY CHAIRMAN for each and every Mt Kenya constituency.
NO election must be held…because they will be infiltrated and interfered with, and TUGEGE sneaked in as winners.
Apart from being patriots, the persons appointed must be very knowledgeable about local issues, be good debaters, understand importance of regularly engaging with media/social media etc.
I am thinking about this kind of scenario: Acting Jubilee Party Chairman for, say, Gatundu South is appearing on certain TV/Radio, talking about issues I have written above, explaining how they should be solved, for the benefit of wananchi…
People from Gatundu South compare him and the joker who is supposed to represent their interests in parliament, and give him a score of 98%, while the KAGEGE MP gets 5%.
People will start waking up…
The “political vacuum” in Mt Kenya will be filled by the party that will be seen by the public as representing their interests (outside parliament, if not having MPs).
Jubilee is in best position to fill this vacuum.
However, any other party could also fill the vacuum, if they realise that the people want solutions to their problems, not whining, or insulting other local leaders.
As things stand, Ruto and his advisers believe Jubilee is angling to fill this vacuum, hence their determination to steal the party.
If Ruto uses state resources to grab Jubilee, that would be the end of multi-party democracy in Kenya.
Mt Kenya Kingpin
There has been a lot of talk in the Mountain about this issue.
Some politicians from the region blame Uhuru for “not grooming successor…”
Question: Has Uhuru prevented anyone from highlighting these issues I have written above?
Has he blocked anyone from going on TV/Radio and saying that, “when crooks are appointed to state jobs, they will steal, and our people will suffer?”
Wasn’t a known thief appointed as KRA Board chairman?
Has any “potential Mt Kenya kingpin” gone to the media, and explained how dangerous this is?
How it would lead to more contraband in the country?
How it would lead to non-inspected, tax-evaded, poisonous food items flooding the shops?
Hasn’t a former female Kiambu county employee, caught transporting millions of county funds in an obvious theft scheme 3 years ago, been recently appointed as PS?
Has any “potential Mt Kenya kingpin” gone to the media, and asked, if the appointing authority wanted to give the job to a person from the county, why not appoint a person not implicated in corruption?
Has any “potential Mt Kenya kingpin” gone on media/social media and asked why petrol, diesel, paraffin, and other fuels are more expensive in Kenya today than 1 year ago, yet price of crude oil has dropped from US$120 per barrel 12 months ago, to around $80 pb currently?
Hasn’t a Cabinet Secretary been implicated in diversion of contaminated sugar to local market?
Has he been sacked and prosecuted?
No.
Has any of these “potential Mt Kenya kingpins” talked about this publicly?
If you really want to become the next Mt Kenya kingpin, start fighting for Mt Kenya people on the ground, in the media, and social media.
Do not demand to be made kingpin.
Start fighting for your people.
It is the people who will decide who will be their kingpin.