Top politicians in the Kisii region say their community has been shortchanged since Uhuru Kenyatta’s former ‘Super Minister’ Fred Matiang’i left government.
Gusii community leaders are considering a mass walkout from ODM, saying they continue to be marginalised and the Ruto-Raila broad-based government has not benefited them.
Although Matiang’i hasn’t himself declared, insiders say he has set his sights on the presidency in 2027, aiming to topple Ruto.
There’s no love lost between the two men. Rebellion against President William Ruto and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga is sweeping the Gusii region, signifying a new alignment in the region’s political trajectory.
Former Interior CS Matiang’i, previously elevated to Gusii elder and spokesman, could be their man, known for mincing his words and for handling political administrative challenges head-on.
For years, Raila has held overwhelming sway in Kisii politics, as most leaders have been elected through his ODM political machine.
However, Ruto also made in roads and garnered substantial votes in the region’s two counties—Kisii and Nyamira—in the 2022 polls.
These allegiances are shifting.
The community’s political leaders, citing unfulfilled promises and political marginalisation, have taken on Raila and Ruto, threatening to sever political ties and chart their own path.
The harshest attack has, however, been against Raila for what some leaders call the unequal sharing of benefits as a result of the broad-based government.
A group of leaders allied to Raila has publicly accused ODM of discrimination, broken promises and treating their leaders as “second-class members”.
They say their numbers in the top government hierarchy have been unusually diminished under Ruto’s administration.
From the region, the President appointed Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba and Solicitor General Shadrack Mose.
The Education docket is especially influential, while the Solicitor General assists the Attorney General in many tasks.
Twice, community leaders have rejected the President’s appointments, as too insignificant and lacking influence, signalling their misgivings about the broad-based government.
Last year, former West Mugirango lawmaker Vincent Kemosi turned down his nomination to be Kenya’s Ambassador to Accra, Ghana.
This month, former Kitutu Masaba MP Timothy Bosire declined appointment as the non-executive chairman of the National Transport and Safety Authority Board.
He is the ODM national treasurer. High-profile positions, dismissed as ‘peanut appointments’.
Pundits, however, link the regional rebellion to expected entry of Matiang’i, a fabled tough guy, into the 2027 presidential race.
The former ‘Super Minister’ and ‘Mr Fixit’ had previously been the powerful Education CS, then the all-powerful Interior CS.
He has not publicly declared his intentions but insiders say he is brushing up his party and recruiting a campaign team.
Former President Kenyatta entrusted him with wide-ranging roles that included supervising his Cabinet colleagues and coordinating all government ministries.
That gave him a national profile and national clout and put him at odds with then Deputy President Ruto, who said Uhuru used Matiang’i to usurp his role as DP.
In 2021, top elected Gusii leaders endorsed Matiang’i as the community’s elder and spokesman. In February 2023 the leaders said since Matiang’i departed government, they have been treated like foster children in Ruto’s government.
A group of Gusii leaders in recent days lambasted ODM and UDA and left no doubt about charting their own political future.
Speaking in separate forums last week, the leaders said repeated attempts to redress ‘blatant marginalisation’ of their community within ODM have fallen on deaf ears, leaving them with no option but to break ranks.
Kisii Senator Richard Onyonka confirmed Matiang’i’s link to their rebellion, disclosing plans to rally behind the no-nonsense former minister to unseat Ruto in 2027.
“We commit to supporting former Cabinet Minister Fred Matiang’i as our presidential candidate in the next general election. We will provide further updates in due course,” Onyonka said.
Kisii Governor Simba Arati, who cut his political teeth working with Raila, declared the Gusii community must feel adequately represented in both ODM and government if its loyalty is to continue.
“If the Gusii community is to remain in ODM and, by extension, the government, then we must be treated fairly,” Arati said.
“We will not hesitate to stage a mass walkout from the Orange party. And let no one doubt our strength — we have the numbers and will mobilise our people to register en masse as we align with like-minded leaders from other communities.”
Arati was recently elevated as ODM’s first deputy party leader. Nyaribari Masaba MP Daniel Manduku rebuked ODM for neglecting the Gusii community in recent Cabinet and parastatal appointments, despite its decades-long loyalty to Raila.
“Despite our unwavering support for Raila over the years, we have nothing to show for it. Even in these latest appointments, we know Raila has had a hand in proposing some of the names that have landed Cabinet and parastatal positions. Yet, none of them represent the Gusii community,” Manduku said.
“As a result, we are coalescing and deliberating as the Gusii nation, with a possible mass walkout from ODM on the table if things don’t change.”
Kisii Senator Onyonka said extensive consultations and deep reflection on current political developments are underway and the community has resolved to forge its way ahead to further its own best interests.
“Guided by our nation’s democratic values, we envision establishing a political party that will champion our community’s interests on the national stage. This house will be built on the pillars of fairness, transparency, integrity, and a commitment to delivering quality services to our people,” he said.
Onyonka is the senior-most politician from the region. Kitutu Chache South MP Anthony Kibagendi cited what he called sidelining the community within the party leadership and unfair, insignificant representation in parliamentary committees as a major grievance.
The first-term legislator said all Kisii MPs have been given one committee slot each, unlike their counterparts in ODM who serve on as many as three.
“Members of the public and our supporters should know the extent of this disparity. Despite our unwavering loyalty to the party, we have been relegated to minor roles, while others enjoy undue privileges,” Kibagendi said.
“We have been disrespected for far too long. Let us come together, forge unity of purpose, and establish our own house and leadership — one that can either take the ultimate prize or negotiate on behalf of our community.”
South Mugirango MP Silvanus Osoro, however, dismissed threats by ODM leaders to stage a mass walkout from the party and the broad-based government, calling them products of “fertile imaginations”.
“In the last general election, we gave President Ruto just over 136,000 votes, compared to Raila’s more than 230,000 votes.
Yet, we act as though we delivered a combined three million
votes,” Osoro said.
He previously served as Majority Whip in the National Assembly
