• Njuri Ncheke Council of Elders secretary-general Josphat Murangiri says the 2022 presidential bid should be reserved for a person from another Gema community, not Kikuyu.
• Former Kasarani MP John Njoroge said many parties will divide the region and kill its bargaining power at the negotiating table.
Image: DOUGLAS OKIDDY
Leaders in the Mount Kenya region are racing against time to craft a plan for the succession of President Uhuru Kenyatta ahead of the 2022 General Election.
Uncertainty in the Jubilee Party has pushed a section of leaders to form smaller parties, with the hope that they will use them as political vehicles to vie in 2022.
Counties in the region are Murang’a, Meru, Kirinyaga, Kiambu, Embu, Nyandarua, Nyeri, Kirinyaga and Tharaka Nithi. Laikipia and Nakuru counties, though in Rift Valley, have a strong attachment to the region.
Notably, leaders in most of these counties have now formed smaller parties championed by their governors or the region's top political figures.
Murang’a Governor Mwangi wa Iria has the Civic Renewal Party; former Agriculture CS Mwangi Kiunjuri (Laikipia) has The Service Party; while The New Democrats is under Thuo Mathenge from Nyeri. These are some of the parties led by individuals from the region.
Speaking to the Star on Sunday, Kiunjuri said he is ready to "champion proper leadership" within the region and across the country. He said he has toured about 16 counties, laying grassroots structures.
Many serious aspirants have declared interest to vie on the party's ticket come 2022, he added. He said the battle within Mount Kenya will be between Jubilee and smaller parties.
Party of Democratic Unity national chairman Gichu Ndirangu agreed with Kiunjuri, adding that registration of more parties is a show of democracy.
Ndirangu said Jubilee Party has been hijacked by selfish leaders and its members within the region are decamping to parties where their views will be accommodated to guarantee their comfort.
“The battle within Jubilee is what is escalating registration of parties; leaders are seeking an exit plan to chart their way, with other leaders subscribing to their ideology," he said.
People’s Party of Kenya chairman Jacob Gitau said the folding of parties into Jubilee in 2016 was a big mistake and those who were shortchanged during the process are now back forming new ones ahead of 2022.
“The race to register parties within Mount Kenya and other regions is championed by former leaders who were duped to fold their parties to join Jubilee and were later betrayed," he said. At the PPK, he added, they are striving for a national outlook.
He said those registering their parties have seen a vacuum and are trying to fill it.
Other parties led by people from Mount Kenya are the National Ordinary People Empowerment Union of Eala legislator Mpuru Aburi (Meru), Narc Kenya of Martha Karua (Kirinyaga), and the People’s Empowerment Party associated with Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria (Kiambu).
Speaking to the Star, Njuri Ncheke Council of Elders secretary-general Josphat Murangiri on Friday said the 2022 presidential bid should be reserved for a person from another Gema community, not Kikuyu. The Kikuyu have already produced three presidents — the founding President Jomo Kenyatta, the third President Mwai Kibaki, and Uhuru. He said they should now return the favour.
Gema comprises the Gikuyu, Embu and Meru.
“Since we have supported the Kikuyu community for the presidency for long, they should return the favour and support another community with Gema," Murangiri said.
But former Kasarani MP John Njoroge said many parties will divide the region and kill its bargaining power at the negotiating table.
“Whoever has a party is a leader and this will bring a lot of confusion. The Mt Kenya region will be a replica of Western Kenya politics where leaders don’t speak with one voice because of different interests and mostly left in opposition," he said.
Njoroge said the leaders should sit down and discuss the welfare of the community, adding that the disintegration means Gema might not make it in 2022 and will leave to regret.
Mt Kenya MCAs Caucus chairman Mwangi Ng’ang’a noted that the region has been divided and no longer speaks in one voice. He called for deliberations on the way forward to avert a further falling out in the race to succeed Uhuru.
But former Kajiado gubernatorial aspirant George King’ori is of the view that registration of parties is a democratic exercise and should be promoted.
Mt Kenya Foundation lawyer Kevin Kariuki said they will unite the Gema communities ahead of 2022 to avoid division in future. He said Mt Kenya Foundation, whose pioneer chairman is Peter Munga of Equity Bank, will bring the community together just as they did in 2013 and 2017.
"Let's support Uhuru to complete his term, we will sit down and deliberate on the way forward in 2022,” he said.