From the outset, the impeachment of Murang’a County Governor, Mwangi wa Iria, may have struck one as a localised affair where Members of the County Assembly (MCAs) revolted against their boss.
However, keen observes of politics in Mount Kenya region read in the Murang’a affair a broader national realignment regarding the Uhuru succession. All factors constant, President Uhuru Kenyatta’s term ends in 2022, assuming that he is re-elected for another five year term in the 2017 election.
It is widely assumed that Deputy President William Ruto will be the automatic presidential candidate for the ruling Jubilee coalition once President Kenyatta makes his exit after the maximum 10 year term allowed by the Constitution.
The intense political battles now at play in Mount Kenya region are about who will be Ruto’s running mate, a slot assumed to be automatically reserved for the region. Subsequently two major camps have emerged, each claiming a stake in Uhuru’s succession.
It is being assumed that whoever Ruto taps will be the automatic Jubilee presidential candidate in 2032, again assuming Ruto becomes president and successively clocks his own two terms.
On one hand is the Mount Kenya west region which comprises the old Central Kenya province made up of what is now Murang’a, Kiambu, Nyeri, Kirinyaga, and Nyandarua counties.
Operating on probably a misplaced sense of entitlement, politicians from the region hold that a post Uhuru/Ruto president must come from the region, again assuming Jubilee coalition holds together and wins the next five presidential elections in a row.
Not buying the idea is the Mount Kenya east region made up of the Meru, Tharaka-Nithi and Embu counties whose kingpins feel that Mount Kenya west has produced the three Presidents who have hailed from the region, the two Kenyattas and Mwai Kibaki.
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Deputy President William Ruto and Women’s Rep Sabina Chege, Humprey Njoroge, Gatanga MP (left), and Kamau Ichung’wa, Kikuyu MP (right) join traditional dancers when the DP presided over a recent function. Photo/CHARLES MATHAI[/caption]
They feel that the next available slot for the region must automatically go east, meaning either the larger Meru or Embu.
Within Mount Kenya west region itself, the clamour is that the next presidential slot for the region must go to Murang’a country, which, of the Big 3 of central Kenya – Kiambu, Murang’a and Nyeri – has never produced a president.
Indeed, in their secret conclaves, Murang’a politicians has been whispering to one another that “this must be our time”.
It is in that context that those conversant with Mount Kenya politics see the Governor wa Iria ouster: ostensibly to pave way for another Governor who they assume must be Ruto’s automatic running-mate in 2022.
The man who has openly declared interest to kick out wa Iria is Kigumo MP Jamleck Kamau, who is widely believed to be the hidden hand in Wednesday’s ouster of Governor wa Iria. It is not a coincidence that the mover of the motion to remove wa Iria was Mary Waithira, a nondescript, nominated MCA from Kamau’s Kigumo backyard.
More significantly, it is widely believed Jamleck Kamau is being hoisted by an influential group of rich businessmen, professionals and politicians from Murang’a county. The latter have little regard for wa Iria, who they regard as a come-from-nowhere lone-ranger politician.
Their candidate for Governor in the last election was one Dr Moses Mwangi, who they had prevailed upon to resign as chief executive of a pharmaceutical firm to contest the seat. wa Iria joined the race at the tip end and went ahead to upset the apple cart, to the chagrin of Murang’a power brokers.
The embattled Governor did not make matters any better for himself by declining to bend low to the who-is-who in the county and instead went directly to the masses by initiating projects that have a direct touch on the electorate.
But while Governor wa Iria has had his sights set not beyond Murang’a, the powerful group behind his political tormentor, the Kigumo MP, have their eyes on the Uhuru succession.
Their interest is to have a national leadership which they can trust to guarantee security for their entrenched economic interests.
Indeed, it is believed even the Kigumo MP may not ultimately be their person for the Ruto running-mate slot but is only using him to make life difficult for Governor wa Iria before they eventually unveil the person they want to secure their interests.
What is in not doubt is that Murang’a power-brokers have already embraced Deputy President Ruto as Uhuru’s successor. Indeed, it is not lost on observers that the DP has become quite visible in central Kenya and Murang’a in particular. Some MPs from the DP’s Rift Valley backyard have been heard murmuring that the DP has forsaken “home” for central Kenya.
It was the same complaint when retired President Moi was Vice President in old Kenyatta’s government and was more visible in central Kenya than in Rift Valley. But even as Murang’a power-brokers position themselves for Uhuru’s succession, politicians from the Mount Kenya east bloc are not resting on their laurels.
They are determined that their counterparts from Mount Kenya west must not have their way fourth time round. In their political hide-outs, they have been whispering to one another that they must no longer be taken as appendages in the Mount Kenya bloc once called the Gema (Gikuyu Embu Meru Association).
Leading the group are the Meru politicians and where, like in Murang’a, the stomping ground is Meru Governor’s seat. From the outset, the battle appears to be between incumbent Governor Peter Munya and Meru Senator Kiraitu Murungi.
However, at a public rally two weeks ago, Murungi let the cat out of the bag when he said that being the senior-most politician in Mount Kenya east (Meru,Tharka-Nithi and Embu), he wanted to be Governor so that he can consolidate the region’s vote to bargain for a high national seat come Uhuru succession in 2022.
He went further to state that as “an elder” he will operate at the grassroots while “my younger brother Kithure Kindiki”, goes for a top national seat.
The Tharaka-Nithi Senator, who is Leader of Majority in the Senate, has for sometime been whispered to be Ruto’s running mate in 2022. However, that remains to be seen as realignments and re-positioning take place in coming months.
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