- The two teams have not had major rallies in recent past
- Members have confined themselves to their localities
Image: FILE
Teams Kieleweke and Wanjiku, opposed to Deputy President William Ruto's 2022 presidential ambitions, have stopped their nationwide activities after the main financier allegedly pulled out.
It is understood the well oiled political operatives who have been working overtime to scuttle Ruto’s plans to succeed President Uhuru Kenyatta felt betrayed by the inability of the two groups to net more members to the fold .
Sources said the same financier funding Kieleweke before shifting to Team Wanjiku closed the taps following a report by the National Intelligence Service that they were not making inroads in countering Ruto and his Team Tangatanga.
In a clear indication that the activities of Team Kieleweke had been grounded, members of the group have for the last three weeks confined their activities to their constituencies.
The leading lights in the Jubilee splinter group ran into problems when it proved cumbersome for them to recruit other firebrands into the ranks.
For instance , Charang’any MP Joshua Kuttuny failed to induct close friends and rebel members including Moiben MP Silas Tiren and Nandi Hills counterpart Alfred Keter .
This is even as Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria, another leading figure in the Team Wanjiku, said they had taken a break but the movement is not dead.
“We will advise as from tomorrow,” Kuria told the Star when asked when they are resuming the campaigns.
Team Wanjiku has not held as much rallies as they had promised but Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko, a key member of the group, is appealing to like-minded leaders to join them in the campaign.
The team has not managed to bring key figures on board save for those who were present during the official commissioning of the group mid-June.
Sonko nonetheless insists that the group is growing and has been joined recently by Makovko MP Patrick Makau and his Embakasi South counterpart Julius Mawathe.
Speaking on K24’s Punchline show on Sunday, Sonko termed leaders of rival outfits Tangatanga and Kieleweke as conmen who have no interest of Kenyans at heart.
“In 2017, we were elected to serve Wanjiku, address issues facing the common people but even before we got started, some leaders started campaigning in readiness for 2022 elections,” he explained.
Team Wanjiku was launched on June 23 in Ruiru Stadium in a glamourous event attended by thousands of people.
During the launch, proponents promised to hold rallies in all the 47 counties to preach service delivery and downplay the 2022 succession battle.
However, only one notable rally has been held by the group so far, a drive in mid-July in Alidina grounds in Jomvu, Mombasa, where it was announced that Governor Hassan Joho supported the movement.
Sonko and Kuria formed Team Wanjiku to ostensibly counter both Tangatanga and Kieleweke.
Kuttuny told the Star it was true they had taken a break but they remain on course to campaign for the unity pact between Uhuru and opposition chief Raila Odinga.
“We are very strong. The issue of the ongoing census somehow took our time and also now that Parliament is on recess, we have taken time off to check on projects in our respective constituencies,” he said.
Former MPs Kabando wa Kabando (Mukurweini) and Dennis Waweru (Dagorreti South), MPs Maoka Maore (Igembe North), Robert Mbui (Kathiani), Kuttuny and Maina Kamanda (nominated) were at Mukurweini in Nyeri on Sunday.
The leaders attended a fundraising event at Kaini PCEA church, Kabando’s home church, where they vowed to support the recommendations of the Building Bridges Initiative task force.
Tangatanga and Kieleweke are as a result of supremacy wars and sibling rivalry in the ruling Jubilee Party.
Tangatanga is composed of allies of Ruto, who insisting that the second in command should be Jubilee’s automatic presidential flagbearer come 2022.
Key members include MPs Kimani Ichung'wa, Ndindi Nyoro, Benjamin Washiali, Didmus Barasa, Oscar Sudi and Caleb Kositany.
On the other hand, Kieleweke maintains that Mt Kenya region does not owe the Deputy President a favour come 2022. It consists of MPs Ngunjiri Wambugu, Maina Kamanda, Joshua Kutunny, William Kamket and Gathoni Wamuchomba.
Apart from Sonko and Kuria, other members of Team Wanjiku are Kieni MP Kanini Kega, East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) MP Simon Mbugua, politicians Reuben Ndolo, Stanley Livondo and Kalembe Ndile and businessman Maina Njenga.
According to the group, the common mwananchi had been forgotten by the leaders they elected as their focus had shifted to 2022 succession politics.
The group nonetheless indicated that it is 100 per cent supporting President Uhuru's Big Four Agenda but said 2022 politics are premature.