•Today’s drama has lifted the lid on the hard task ahead to get President Uhuru Kenyatta’s backyard to speak in one voice.
•Kuria said that he is deeply rooted in the Deputy President's camp but he won’t be left behind in uniting the mountain.
Image: TSP/TWITTER
A meeting to forge Mt Kenya unity ended in disarray after Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria declared at a press conference that he is in Tangatanga to stay.
Tangatanga is a breakaway wing of the Jubilee Party supporting Deputy President William Ruto’s 2022 presidential bid.
After the presser, other party leaders confronted Kuria over the remark but an unapologetic Kuria stormed out of the meeting.
Kuria, Narc Kenya leader Martha Karua and her TSP counterpart Mwangi Kiunjuri had last week come up with Mt Kenya Unity Caucus to spearhead unity of the region
Today’s drama has lifted the lid on the hard task ahead to get President Uhuru Kenyatta’s backyard to speak in one voice.
The New Democrats Party leader Thuo Mathenge said he confronted Kuria for erroneously portraying attendants as Ruto’s supporters.
“I was very bitter with Kuria when he tried to turn the meeting into a
Tangatanga function and I had to confront him,” Mathenge told the Star, warning such remarks risk the caucus’s disintegration
Party of Democratic Unity leader Isaiah Gichu admitted that “there was an issue” but said it will be resolved in their next meeting.
Kuria, Karua and Kiunjuri attended the meeting in Thika.
Others were Jacob Gitau (PPK) and Esau Kioni of the Democratic Party.
Addressing the media, Karua said the caucus’s sole purpose is to unite the region without supporting any political affiliations.
She said they will reach out to many political parties within the region whether in Tangatanga or Kieleweke.
“The forum for Mt Kenya region isn’t about the individual but uniting the mountain for the region to speak with one tongue,” she said.
Her counterpart from Chama Cha Kazi, Kuria, said that he won’t be intimidated by those claiming that the forum is aimed at selling the region’s votes ahead of 2022.
“We have those people like Kiambu Woman Representative Gathoni Wamuchomba who are claiming that we are selling the region to the highest bidder. I would like to state that, it’s true, we will not give our eight million votes to an outsider without knowing our stake,” he said.
Kuria said that he is deeply rooted in the Deputy President's camp but he won’t be left behind in uniting the mountain.
Kiunjuri echoed Kuria’s sentiments, saying those celebrating when the region is divided won’t be given a chance.
Mt Kenya has been restless over its future as President Uhuru Kenyatta’s term comes to an end in August next year.
Having not identified a strong political figure to take over as the region's supremo, leaders are jostling to be Mt Kenya's spokesperson.
TND party leader Mathenge said that leaders of the region shouldn’t be worried about who will succeed Uhuru Kenyatta.
He maintained that the region has a potential candidate who can be trusted with the region's riches and thus Kenyans shouldn’t panic.
“I know there are those people saying that the region will be left naked once President Uhuru retires, but I would like to tell them that, we have able leaders who will take our interests to heart,” Thuo said.
In 2013, President Uhuru Kenyatta was endorsed by the community in a meeting that was dubbed Limuru Two.
In today's meeting, the leaders said that before 2022, a meeting dubbed Limuru Three will be held to crown a candidate that they will choose.
Stephen Karau, the Kikuyu Council of Elders secretary general, said the GEMA community leaders have agreed to mobilize their followers and amend any difference that might emerge.
“GEMA community is unity and we will bring all the parties involved together and speak in one voice, ” he said.
Edited by Kiilu Damaris