Former Machakos Senator Johnson Muthama has attacked Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka for asking President Uhuru Kenyatta for ‘mtu wa mkono’ [errand boy] job.
Muthama said the Akamba community will stop supporting Kalonzo and opt for his opponents if the former Vice President is not serious with his 2022 presidential bid.
He asked Kalonzo to explain to Wiper leaders and supporters what he meant with ‘mtu wa mkono’ job during his father’s burial last Friday.
“As Kambas, we are pushing Kalonzo and he is now running backwards. We can leave him so that we support our opponents, let him explain to us what he meant by ‘mtu wa mkono’,” Muthama said.
Muthama spoke on Sunday at a fundraiser in St John’s Catholic Church Lita, Kathiani subcounty. He said anyone is capable of leading the country as President regardless of his/her tribe.
He likened Kalonzo to a poor athlete who fails to complete a race. “Kalonzo is running backwards. He has just dropped out of the race after covering 2,500 metres.
He cannot complete the 5,000 metres race,” Muthama said. Wiper party chairman and Makueni governor Kivutha Kibwana has also criticised Kalonzo’s remarks.
Kibwana said Kalonzo’s declaration to be the President’s ‘mtu wa mkono’ was not well thought out. He questioned the Wiper leader’s commitment to his own 2022 presidential bid.
“When a leader of the people becomes an errand boy, what becomes of the followers who have elevated him to the negotiation table?” Kibwana posted on a WhatsApp group.
Kalonzo on Friday said he will fully support President Uhuru Kenyatta and his party will work with Jubilee. Speaking during his father’s funeral at Tseikuru in Kitui, Kalonzo said no one would spoil his new unity with the President.
“I want to tell the public I will not allow anyone to separate me and interfere with my relationship with Uhuru,” the Wiper leader said. He said this will not interfere with his special relationship with Opposition leader Raila Odinga with whom he shared a presidential ticket in last year’s election.
President Kenyatta welcomed Kalonzo’s pledge to work with im. “My brother Kalonzo should help us to bring the country together and peace for all Kenyans and even internationally. Every leader has something to contribute…all we need is to give each other space and respect one another”, he said.
Uhuru said that the country’s economy cannot grow amid political wrangles among leaders as citizens are the ones who suffer when they clash.
Raila has also pledged to work together with Uhuru to unite the country through the March 9 handshake. “I have spoken huge words here and I cannot play ‘karata” [games] with politics at my age,” Kalonzo said.
Sources close to State House told the Star confidentially that President Kenyatta was considering appointing Kalonzo as a special envoy to mediate in conflicts locally as well as outside the country where Kenya’s help will be required.
Kalonzo has previously been involved in mediation efforts in Somalia and South Sudan.
In the case of Somalia, the former Vice President worked with various warlords to reach a peace accord. His biggest success, was, however registered in South Sudan where, together with General Lazarus Sumbeyio, he helped to end the long-running conflict when Khartoum eventually accepted to allow South Sudan to break away.