• Uhuru said Kenyans were not fools and politicians should stop dictating to them what they should do with the Building Bridges Report that was unveiled last week.
• President cautioned the politicians from Mt Kenya region not to misinterpret his silence to mean that he knows nothing.
Image: COURTESY
Deputy President William Ruto seems to have pulled a fast one on his boss Uhuru Kenyatta in Mt Kenya region.
The DP, according to multiple sources, has convinced a significant number of elected leaders in the region to back him, not the President.
His supporters have frustrated attempts by Uhuru's team to discuss and adopt a common position on BBI.
Following the failure of the meeting, the President issued a warning to those fighting BBI.
“There is nothing I do not know. When the time comes, we will come and we will speak with you about what we will do with the BBI. Mwaka mpya (next year), we will be with you. Let’s just first listen to their lectures. We are with you,” he said in Mang'u in Kiambu county.
The President cautioned the politicians from Mt Kenya region not to misinterpret his silence for ignorance.
Uhuru said that from January next year, he will be touring the region to popularise the report.
On Tuesday the pro-Ruto Tangatanga group scuttled a meeting called by the State House-leaning group under the guise of the Mt Kenya Foundation at Ole Sereni.
Meeting invitations had been sent out to all Mt Kenya MPs by Deputy Chief Whip in the National Assembly Cecily Mbararie and Senate Deputy Chief Whip Irungu Kang'ata.
It read: "Mheshimiwa, further to our message please note that you are invited for a breakfast meeting of all Mt Kenya MPs and Senators on Thursday 5th December 2019.
"Agenda: Being taken through the BBI report by a team of experts. Please be punctual."
No sooner had the notice been posted in various groups than Ruto supporters reacted with anger, almost insulting the two as they rejected the invitation.
Upon realising that the numbers would be small, Kang'ata and Mbarire quickly consulted with State House official Njee Muturi and cancelled the meeting.
“Mheshimiwa, after several consultations, we have decided to cancel the Mt Kenya Breakfast Meeting, scheduled for Thursday 5th December 2019 at the Ole Sereni Hotel from 7.30am. We will continue to engage you further, appreciate all your views and will communicate at a later date. Have a nice evening,” Kang'ata and Mbarire said in another text to senators and MPs.
When contacted on Wednesday, Kang'ata confirmed the invitation but said the meeting was cancelled "to enable us to consult further".
Speaking in Mangu on Wednesday, President Kenyatta lashed out at the DP who has vowed to oppose a referendum on the BBI.
Uhuru who was in his home county, Kiambu, said Kenyans were not fools and politicians should stop dictating to them what they should do with the Building Bridges Report that was unveiled last week.
“Every time they come, it is just lecturing you on what you should do. You are the ones who know what you will do and I know Kenyan people want peace and unity and that their money is used in a way that benefits mwananchi,” Uhuru said , speaking his native in Kikuyu.
He added, “We will come and we will talk about these things. We are getting to a point where we are saying enough is enough and we are tired. Before we released the report, they were all over for a month, lecturing us about things.”
He said the intention of BBI is to unite Kenyans and provide solutions bedevilling the nation such as election-related violence.
The Star has learnt that a secret technical committee has been constituted to formulate how the report will be implemented.
It is understood that some of the members of the committee that met on Wednesday for the second time at a hotel in Kilimani have been picked from the BBI task force itself.
A section of politicians supporting the parliamentary process have questioned the speed at which the committee was formed
During the Embu retreat, the 57 legislators from Mt Kenya, and even those from counties outside the region but tracing their roots to Central, resolved that Parliament is the only way to implement the report as opposed to a referendum.
They said any constitutional amendment in relation to the report should be Parliament-led as many aspects touch on the law and not an amendment to the Constitution.
Whereas ODM boss Raila Odinga's allies have been pushing for a referendum as a means of enacting the BBI recommendations, Ruto's camp says most of the proposals could be handled in Parliament.
Speaking to the Star on Wednesday, nominated Senator Isaac Mwaura said the meeting could not proceed in the manner that had been arranged.
He noted the community will be cautious on the whole BBI issue and avoid any attempts by external forces to split the region.
“The meeting was cancelled because the manner in which it was organised was not proper. As Mt Kenya leaders, we share common issues that we can discuss despite our political differences. We will not allow anyone to divide us,” Mwaura told the Star.
“We will go on with the meeting when we have conducted proper consultation.”
Kangema MP Muturi Kigano said he saw the Whatsapp invite but did not take it seriously.
However, an MP aligned to the Kieleweke grouping from the region dismissed the claims, saying the meeting was a Tangatanga affair and they should explain why they couldn’t proceed.
The first-term lawmaker who asked not to be named said the Tangatanga outfit convened and called off the meeting.
“How could we take part in a meeting that was being convened by strong members of Tangatanga? They should not mislead you that they chickened out of any meeting. That was their meeting,” he said.
Since the launch of the document last Wednesday at the Bomas of Kenya, political groupings have been emboldened, with different regions plotting a retreat to hammer out common positions on the 156-page report. So far it is only available on soft copy.
On Wedneday evening, at least 86 Jubilee MPs from the entire Rift Valley are expected to arrive at a Naivasha hotel ahead of a two-day retreat where they will discuss the report and adopt a common position.