A showdown is looming in Mt Kenya after Deputy President William Ruto called for six-piece suit vote for United Democratic Alliance candidates only in the general election.
Already Ruto is walking a tightrope to avert a falling out in Mt Kenya, where his key allies are raring for tooth-and-nail fights in anticipation of UDA nominations in next year’s primaries.
He faces a delicate balancing act to campaign for the presidency without antagonising his grassroots troops who are openly battling for space within his hustler nation movement.
It is feared intra-UDA fights could lead to early defections from UDA and prove costly for Ruto's efforts to consolidate Mt Kenya region against a surge by ODM boss Raila Odinga.
I don't agree with DP Ruto’s clarion call for Kenyans to vote six-piece. The 2022 polls will be mix and match, and not six-piece.
The DP has insisted voters in Mt Kenya should vote for him as president and also vote for other UDA candidates for governor, senator, woman representative, MPs and MCA.
He has rejected pressure to work with small regional parties and is aggressively positioning his UDA outfit as the political vehicle of choice for the people of Mt Kenya.
Critics say the proposal is a recipe for chaos and a build-up to bungled party nominations.
Former Agriculture CS and The Service Party leader Mwangi Kiunjuri told The Star Kenyans should reject the gospel of six-piece suit voting and think for themselves.
"I don't agree with DP Ruto’s clarion call for Kenyans to vote six-piece. The 2022 polls will be mix and match, and not a six-piece,” Kiunjuri, a former Ruto ally, said.
He went on, “Kenyans, and Mt Kenya for that matter, should be allowed to elect leaders they deserve and who will help them achieve growth.”
"The current six-piece politicians we elected in past polls can't stand on their own as they are told on what to say," Kiunjuri said.
The DP has often termed small parties as "tribal" outfits and asked their leaders to fold them up in favour of a national political vehicle, that he calls UDA.
Ironically, Mt Kenya has the highest number of political parties that have insisted they would not fold.
In his tour of Mt Kenya, the DP has been parading UDA candidates for various seats and asking voters to elect them next year, dashing hopes for an alliance with fringe parties.
“We have agreed that UDA is the party? We have agreed that we shall elect a UDA governor, senator, woman representative, MP and MCA? How many agree that we shall elect UDA candidates?” Ruto asked at one of his stops.
Ruto was in Nyandarua county Friday. He will be in Kirinyaga on Sunday.
However, the six-piece declaration could heighten infighting in the DP’s camp as fringe parties supporting his 2022 presidential bid push for a bigger share in his movement.
Some of Ruto’s allies on his tours are also urging voters to pick UDA candidates to give the DP enough troops to push for the hustler nation agenda.
However, former Kiambu Governor William Kabogo told the Star nobody should try to brand other parties tribal-based "as each party has its base".
“We have said that we shall not give the seats of governor, MPs and MCAs to alien parties. Our people will vote for people from their own parties that they identify with,” Kabogo said.
Kabogo is the leader of the Tujibebe Wakenya Party and is among leaders from Mt Kenya who have refused Ruto’s clarion call to dissolve their outfits and join "national parties".
Other leaders who have warned against intimidation to dissolve their parties include Narc Kenya leader Martha Karua and Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria of Chama Cha Kazi.
While Kuria is allied to the DP’s hustler nation, Karua and Kabogo have joined the One Kenya Alliance of Musalia Mudavadi (ANC), Kalonzo Musyoka (Wiper), Moses Wetang'ula (Ford Kenya) and Gideon Moi (Kanu).
Karua has warned that folding small parties would betrayal her ideals of fighting for multiparty democracy during President Daniel Moi's regime in the 1990s.
"We cannot go back to the one-party system. We must be respected. I am urging my colleagues not to bow to intimidation and fold up. Let us compete fairly in the coming polls," Karua recently said.
In the run-up to the 2017 polls, at least 12 parties folded and merged to form the Jubilee Party. However, there have been regrets as the ruling party faces an implosion.
Ruto had then folded his United Democratic Party while Uhuru did away with The National Alliance party to form Jubilee.
The DP then called for six-piece suit voting pattern in his Rift Valley bastion, as well as in Mt Kenya, even as critics accused him of orchestrating their defeat in nominations.
The UDA agenda will only make sense if voters deliberately elect party candidates and push the agenda.
However, Tharaka Nithi Senator Kithure Kindiki emphasised the value of DP’s six-piece suit pattern, saying a political party without enough lawmakers and governors would weaken the UDA agenda.
“What we are saying is that Mt Kenya region is fully UDA as witnessed from the overwhelming reception the DP has received across the region. We will start on a firm footing if voters prioritise UDA candidates,” Kindiki said.
Mathira MP Rigathi Gachagua, another UDA stalwart, told the Star the DP’s party has no problem with anybody but will campaign for UDA candidates.
“The UDA agenda will only make sense if voters deliberately elect party candidates,” the MP said, insisting that for now there are no modalities for working with other parties.
“We don’t want to have a scenario where sibling rivalry can cost us seats and that is why we are asking those supporting the DP’s hustler nation to join UDA,” he said.
(Edited by V. Graham)
