• The other thing that is clear is that they are unhappy with Jubilee. Jubilee kept quiet.
• Those in hustler's corner have a reason to get worried.
Image: COURTESY/TEAM KIONI
The Kiambaa by-election is a big win for us as Jubilee. When we went to Kiambaa three weeks ago, we had difficulties mentioning the name Uhuru, or even Jubilee.
But at the end of three weeks, we have chipped away 50 per cent of the people in Deputy President William Ruto’s hustler camp.
So, if you are looking for the presidency in 2022 and you can lose 50 per cent of your following in three weeks to your opponents, you have every reason to be worried. For us, it is a celebration.
My being in Kiambaa was not to win the seat but to speak to the community and hear them. It was to speak with one another. It was an opportunity for us to engage the mountain. We heard them, and they heard us, of which 50 per cent left the station they were in.
The other 50 per cent require further persuasion. We did that in three weeks. We have over one year within which we will be able to talk to the others.
The other thing that is clear is that they are unhappy with Jubilee. Jubilee kept quiet. They have not gone to tell them what they have been doing for the past four years since the 2017 election. They have ended up in a quarrelling house and they feel like they have been abandoned by Jubilee. That is also a message that came out very clear.
What also came out clear is that “fine we have heard you. The hustler narrative is not working and will not help us out of the problems we are in, and we agree. But what is the alternative.” Those are the things we need to work on.
Those in hustler's corner have a reason to get worried. They don’t have anything in their basket yet. Whatever it is they are holding onto is very fluid and is very shaky.
We are celebrating because 50 per cent of the Kikuyus have left the Uhuru-Ruto 2017 voting bloc; that is shy of four million votes by a small margin. If we defeated Raila by 200,000 votes, and you have lost four million votes, are you in government or in the opposition?
The hustler movement is at best starting its journey from the platform of the leader of the opposition. They need to be worried because we chipped off 50 per cent of their vote in three weeks, what about three months?
The seat the hustler team is holding is that of the opposition. The question we are asking our people of Mt Kenya today is: Do they know they are in the opposition today? When that comes clear to them, I expect another 25 per cent of them to decamp.
The Ndaragwa MP and National Assembly CIOC chairman spoke to the Star