- The DP held meetings with delegations largely from the Mt Kenya region from Monday to Friday.
- The plan is to maintain steady support all the way to ballot day.
Image: STEPHEN ASTARIKO
Covid-19 may have curtailed public meetings but this is not stopping Deputy President William Ruto from courting the vote-rich Central Kenya bloc.
DP Ruto has taken to holding regular discussions with political leaders, women and youth groups from Central, mostly at his Karen residence.
He has hosted dozens of youth groups, mostly from Nairobi and Central, giving them equipment worth millions of shillings to boost their businesses.
Meanwhile, President Uhuru Kenyatta is reported to have moved to ensure Central remains united ahead of the 2022 election.
Laikipia Woman Representative Catherine Waruguru, the President’s new lieutenant, previously a staunch Ruto ally, has been moving around warning Mt Kenya residents against being swayed into supporting Tangatanga
Tangatanga is a faction of mostly Jubilee lawmakers allied to Ruto. Uhuru's Jubilee supporters go by the name Kieleweke.
Soy MP Caleb Kositany, a close ally of Ruto, says their side has come up with a number of strategies to beat “dynasties”. He says Ruto has chosen to target Kenyans facing economic hardships.
By dynasties the DP's team refers to President Uhuru Kenyatta, his handshake partner Raila Odinga and Baringo Senator Gideon Moi whose families have been a regular fixture in Kenyan politics since Independence.
The DP held a series of meetings with delegations largely from the Mt Kenya region from Monday to Friday.
The plan is to maintain steady support all the way to ballot day.
Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro said the Kikuyu people will not abandon Ruto and will return the favour in 2022.
“Mt Kenya people are Ruto diehards. Anyone doubting that should make a visit to the region to find out for themselves," he said.
"The DP has remained respectful to the President and has remained committed to the Jubilee promises. He campaigned and defended the President when he was under attack from the opposition.
“As far as we are concerned, we the people of Mt Kenya promised to support the DP after the President completes his term. We are not about to change that. We will keep the promise.”
The Kikuyu Council of Elders has however dismissed the Deputy President's meetings as inconsequential.
National chairman Wachira Kiago said Ruto will achieve nothing with the meetings if they are in defiance of President Kenyatta.
“He is free to meet people but if the get-togethers are not about development but 2022 politics, then that would amount to disobedience. The President has said time and again that it is not time for campaigns but work,” he said.
Kiago said Ruto will pay a heavy price for engaging in campaigns against Uhuru's wishes.
Secretary general Peter Munga said Central Kenya will not let people from other regions divide them. “Ruto has been reduced to meeting people of no consequence just to make himself busy. He will not succeed in dividing our house,” he said.
“Ambition amounts to nothing if you do not respect your boss. Anybody who is not respectful of authority should not even aspire to be a leader.”
Munga said Ruto's meetings appear aimed at dividing rather than uniting Central.
“Why try to divide Central region when God is about unity and peace? Leaders should learn to walk the talk,” he added.