Ruto takes battle to Mt Kenya as Uhuru bets on Raila

Deputy President William Ruto is going flat out to firm up his support in Mt Kenya even as President Uhuru tries to consolidate the region for ODM boss Raila Odinga.

As part of his strategy to reinforce his backing in Uhuru's backyard,  the DP was on Friday set to hold a three-day meeting in Nanyuki with his Tangatanga allied troops from Mt Kenya.

The Star has established that although the session has been couched as a meeting to craft the region's economic blueprint for the hustler nation, the DP's 2022 running mate will be part of the agenda.

Non-elected leaders from the region have been locked out of the meeting.

Sources said the retreat will also seek to seal widening cracks within Ruto's camp amid claims that small parties from Mt Kenya are under pressure to fold up and join his United Democratic Alliance.

Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria, who is the leader of Chama Cha Kazi, and ex-Agriculture Cabinet secretary Mwangi Kiunjuri, The Service Party leader, are some of the leaders who have rejected the idea.

And on Friday cracks emerged after Kuria claimed he had not been invited to the Nanyuki meeting.

The MP told the Star he just heard about the meeting in the media.

“I hope it is a UDA meeting and not a Hustler Nation meeting,” Kuria said, insisting that if it were a Tangatanga meeting he would have been invited.

The move by the organisers to lock out non-elected leaders from the high-stakes talks appeared to confirm reports that the meeting could trash out the running mate nightmare, seen to be the elephant in the Tangatanga room, 320 days to the polls.

“The meeting will be an exclusive session for members of the National Assembly and the Senate,” Mathira MP Rigathi Gachagua told the Star.

However, when questioned about the running mate agenda, the Ruto ally insisted that "for us that is not an issue for now although it will come up at a later date.”

“We are looking at how to solidify votes for our preferred presidential candidate William Ruto and looking at the economic issues we would want his administration to address,” Gachagua said.

The meeting, which will be held at the Aberdare Prestige Hotel, will run until Monday.

This would be the first ever major political meeting between Ruto and Mt Kenya leaders in a bid to parry away Uhuru's political onslaught against him following their acrimonious divorce.

The President, who is crafting a different political succession matrix, has isolated the DP from the inner sanctum of his administration, opting to instead work closely with Raila-his preferred successor.

Uhuru has been breathing fire that his own deputy is leading a rebellion against his legacy agenda, while Ruto is defiantly taking on the state in a daredevil push.

“I want to tell those who are against us that they should know that I’m a man on a mission. I have no space to retreat nor the luxury to surrender,” said Ruto on August 23 in Taita Taveta.

This weekend Ruto will be in the President's backyard to craft a winning formula as he moves to turn the tables on Uhuru at a time their relationship has hit rock bottom.

Laikipia Woman Representative Catherine Waruguru, a Ruto ally from the region, told the Star that the meeting would be about laying ground for an elaborate programme to market Ruto.

“We are moving to the next phase of important engagements with our 2022 presidential candidate and would want to map our region and form a formidable team that will deliver the presidential vote,” she said.

In an interview with the Star, Gachagua dismissed claims there are some lawmakers who had not been invited. 

The DP has shrugged off a push by some of his allies to form a coalition and he has declared that his UDA party does not need such political deals to win the next polls.

It is this hardline stance that is said to have infuriated Kuria and Kiunjuri.

Smarting from a security guards fiasco that exposed the 'irony' in his hustler nation narrative, the DP is expected to renew his vows for Mt Kenya region in an attempt to hold onto his popularity.

Analysts have said the DP requires over 90 per cent support of the vote-rich region if he hopes to romp to State House on the first round. However, this has lately been doubtful owing to Uhuru's charm offensive.

The meeting comes when Uhuru has rolled out an elaborate scheme to cut Ruto down to size in Mt Kenta as he positions Raila-his handshake partner-as his preferred successor.

In the last one month, the President's allies from the region have been hosting Raila in churches, closed-door meetings and funerals to counter their hustler nation wave and shore up the ODM boss's support.

The former prime minister has also been meeting established business moguls who have for decades bankrolled campaigns in the region against a Raila presidency, signaling thawed ties ahead of 2022 polls.

Just on Thursday, Raila met wealthy businessmen from the Meru community led by Governor Kiraitu Murungi with the region declaring support for the ODM boss, heralding a possible shift in Mt Kenya politics.

Kiraitu who led a powerful delegation of Meru leaders, the business community and professionals, declared support for Raila in his quest to succeed President Uhuru next year.

“Those demons which we planted, the crocodiles which we put in the rivers, we are going to remove them so that you take people to Canaan,” Kiraitu said.

Edited by Henry Makori