• Wambugu said Uhuru will not retire from the region's leadership at the end of his presidency.
• “I don’t think we can have a conversation about any of the leaders we have in this term taking over,” he said.
Image: EUTYCAS MUCHIRI
The calls by some politicians to have Agriculture CS Mwangi Kiunjuri succeed President Uhuru Kenyatta as Mt Kenya leader are premature, Nyeri Town MP Ngunjiri Wambugu has said.
Wambugu said Uhuru will not retire from the region's leadership at the end of his presidency.
“I don’t think we can have a conversation about any of the leaders we have in this term taking over,” he said.
He said discussions about who will to take over from Uhuru will not happen until long after the president leaves office.
Wambugu spoke to the media in Nyeri on Friday. He was reacting to remarks by a section of Mt Kenya leaders suggesting that CS Kiunjuri was best suited to be the region’s kingpin after Uhuru.
Politicians from the region have been saying that there is a need to look for somebody to take over from Uhuru.
But the lawmaker said he does not think that Uhuru will stop being the Mt Kenya leader even after leaving office.
“Let’s think about Moi for example. Moi has been out of the leadership of the Kalenjin community for more than two decades but people still troop to his house to go and seek direction on issues regarding the region,” he said.
He added, “I think for us to assume that immediately after Uhuru stops being the president he will stop being the leader of the region is a bit naïve.”
The legislator said that people suggesting that Kiunjuri should take over should realise that they are setting him (Kiunjuri) up.
Wambugu said this is because they are asking him to take over something that is not available. For the CS to try to take over the leadership, then he will be trying to wrestle it from his boss, he said.
The MP called on leaders to stop speaking about the region’s succession politics and first finish the work that needs to be done for this term.
The leadership is not given but it comes automatically after somebody steps into a gap and takes over, he said.
“Right now unless Kiunjuri is telling us that there is a gap in the leadership of the region, he shouldn't be talking about succession. There is no gap,” Wambugu said.
The lawmaker said that during former President Mwai Kibaki’s reign, Uhuru was preparing himself. But he did not step into the gap before Kibaki left.
“Nobody was saying that now it is time for Uhuru to lead. He was stepping in to help Kibaki. But now we are hearing people claiming that we need a leader to negotiate on behalf of the region. With whom?” he said.
He added, “Who is this leader going to negotiate with because the president of the country is the leader of the region?”