Mt Kenya factions at war to succeed Uhuru

President Uhuru Kenyatta's retirement in 2022 has triggered a fierce battle among Mt Kenya leaders angling to succeed him as the region's political kingpin.

Although there is a faction of leaders pushing the President to make a comeback — retaining him as the Mt Kenya de facto leader — others feel 2022 would be an ideal time for the President to quit active politics.

President Kenyatta is expected to clock 61 years when he leaves office, at least 20 years younger than his predecessor Mwaki Kibaki, who retired at the age of 81 when he left office.

While Kibaki is credited to have rolled out a quiet succession plan in his backyard that aided Kenyatta's ascendance to power in 2013, the President appears noncommittal.

This means he could still want to be relevant and hold sway even in retirement.

Kenyatta's relatively younger age has provoked debate whether he should quit politics, as Kibaki did, and pass the region's baton to another leader.

At least three groups from Mt Kenya are raring for a  showdown in the rugged battle to seize the Mt Kenya baton from Kenyatta when his two-constitutional terms end.

Separately, a major regional split is in the offing with Mt Kenya East, Meru, Tharaka Nithi and Embu counties positioning themselves as the best suited to produce Kenyatta's regional heir.

Meru Governor Kiraitu Murungi is reportedly positioning himself as the region's supremo in what could complicate the Mt Kenya succession battle.

The former justice minister is serving his first term but is quietly working with Mt Kenya East leaders with his eyes fixed on the prize to take the reins from President Kenyatta.

Mt Kenya East's positioning in the Kenyatta succession matrix could precipitate sharp cracks with the Central Kenya region — Nyeri, Kiambu, Murang'a, Nyandarua and Kirinyaga — claiming bragging rights.

Conversely, Laikipia, a largely cosmopolitan county feeling muzzled by sister counties, is in bitter sibling rivalry wars with central Kenya region with ex-Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mwangi Kiunjuri leading a breakaway faction.

Kiunjuru, the former leader of the GNU party which folded to form the Jubilee behemoth, is leading an onslaught against Kenyatta and has emerged as a key regional point man for Deputy President William Ruto.

The galaxy of possibilities playing out in President Kenyatta's succession could only get complicated in the coming months as the Building Bridges Initiative trains hurtles across the country.

Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru appears to be an emerging as Central Kenya political lite and is pushing her way up.

The influential county boss is leading colleagues from the region in driving the narrative that President Kenyatta is the Mt Kenya region's undisputed political kingpin now and after 2022.

This view is shared by Governors Mutahi Kahiga (Nyeri), Francis Kimemia (Nyandarua), Martin Wambora (Embu), James Nyoro (Kiambu) and Murang' a's Mwangi Wa Iria.

The group also includes a host of former and sitting MPs coalescing around the Kieleweke group, one of the regio's factions backing the BBI push.

Some of the vocal MPs in this group include Nyeri town lawmaker Ngunjiri Wambugu and Kieni MP Kanini Kega, Kenyatta's key ally.

Politicians and analysts say the group is backing Uhuru with the hope that the President will anoint one of them in 2022.

“Whoever will be chosen by Uhuru in 2022 will be the person to occupy an influential position meant for the region in the proposed structure of government. That would be either prime minister or deputy prime minister under the BBI proposal,” political analyst Felix Odhiambo said.

However, another axis includes some influential politicians out n the political cold, including former Kiambu Governor William Kabogo, Narc Kenya leader Martha Karua and former Gatanga MP Peter Kenneth.

Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria is also in the faction.

Many see this second group as comprised of liberals and forthright politicians who never shy away from freely speaking their minds.

Kenneth and Kabogo, who have been missing from the BBI rallies across the country stormed the Kinoru Stadium meeting last Saturday and cautiously declared their support.

Karua for the first time came out guns blazing, claiming the BBI train had ben hijacked to serve selfish interests.

“We must, as Kenyans, refuse to be blindfolded and bulldozed into supporting what we do not know about, or excluded from debating or participating in matters that affect us,” she said.

The Star has established that the Building Bridges Initiative has offered a new platform for the warring teams to flex their political muscles in the Kenyatta succession.

Some politicians from the Mt Kenya region say some leaders could be using the BBI process to market themselves as Uhuru's potential successors.

Fears of a possible power vacuum in Mt Kenya if Uhuru decides to hang up his boots in 2022 has thrown a spanner in the works.

“There could be people positioning themselves now that we are approaching an imminent transition period. They want to position themselves to inherit the reins of power,” Kieni MP Kanini Kega, a key ally of the President, told the Star.

The President has previously told his Mt Kenya people that he will not mind having any political seat after 2022, including prime minister.

But Kiunjuri, seen as a frontrunner in the Kenyatta succession battle, wants the President to exit the political stage when his term ends. 

Confronted with the issue, Kega admitted that vicious succession politics has rocked the Mt Kenya region.

The MP, however, warned the region's leaders not to allow the succession competition to compromise the region's unity.

“The President is currently our de facto leader. We will continue to read his lips so that when the hour of reckoning comes, we shall follow him,” he said

He warned that over-ambitious leaders would be crushed by voters.

Politics is about power and those who do not have ambitions are in the wrong profession, Kega added.

Kabogo captured the deep-seated politics of suspicion and mischief headlining the BBI push in Mt Kenya.

He claimed that the process is no longer about building bridges but “building competition".

Kabogo, who took a swipe at some governors positioning themselves to succeed Uhuru, said some county chiefs were very unpopular on the ground, yet they pretended to hold a grip on their people.

“It’s now the competition of who will become the Mt Kenya leader after President Uhuru Kenyatta,” Kabogo fired back after he was denied an opportunity to speak in Meru.

“No one will force a leader on us, take that to the bank. Vitu kwa ground ni different (Things are different on the ground).

Waiguru told the Star it was impossible to divorce the BBI process from  2022 succession, especially when one of the proposals was to alter the structure of government.

"It is true that succession competition can divide the region. However, let us not interpret the divergence of views as the division of the region. In a democracy, you expect and tolerate differing views,” she told the Star.

She added, "It is also a process that reveals the abilities of different leaders and gives the people an opportunity to assess them,” Waiguru said.

Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria, a key ally of Deputy President William Ruto and a critic of Uhuru's allies, warned on Thursday that 'outsiders' had sneaked into Mt Kenya.

“Raila will not impose people on us as leaders. We were elected by the people, and we will continue working with them,” Kuria said.