The latest outburst by the former Deputy President regards
the sharing of positions in Nairobi.
Gachagua last Sunday claimed he had agreed with Wiper leader
Kalonzo Musyoka that DCP would field candidates for the positions of governor,
senator and woman rep, and share 16 out of the 17 MP seats.
The remarks were widely interpreted as ethnic balkanisation
and his dominance over other opposition parties.
Already, Embakasi North MP and close Gachagua ally James
Gakuya and former Farmers’ Party leader Irungu Nyakera have expressed interest
in the Nairobi governorship under DCP.
However, Kalonzo immediately denied there was such a deal,
claiming that it was an attempt to create a wedge between himself and Gachagua.
Reacting to the backlash, Gachagua on Wednesday said he
meant the positions would be shared among the United Opposition parties.
Nonetheless, his claim to the capital had echoes of his
earlier reported demand for a 50 per cent share of government in the United
Opposition’s coalition negotiations in return for endorsing Kalonzo.
Gachagua and other opposition leaders have, however, denied
the demand.
Speaking to DCP Youth League last month, Gachagua said he
hadn’t made such a demand and would instead convince allies to back his bid.
"Let me confirm for the avoidance of doubt. We shall
have a single presidential candidate,” he said.
“I have seen William Ruto sponsored a headline in
yesterday’s newspaper that I will not vie, that I will leave for others to then
demand a share of the government. Who told them?
“I am a frontrunner in this race, my friends. What I need to do is to persuade my colleagues that I have the numbers, the mobilisation capacity, I can marshal enough resources, I have enough inspiration, I have enough messaging capacity to defeat William Ruto," he said.
His DAP-K counterpart Eugene Wamalwa also told the Star that
at no point has Gachagua made the demand.
However, analysts opine that the demands by Gachagua are
plausible as he is unlikely to run for office in 2027. Instead, the demands are
a give-and-take for Gachagua to endorse Kalonzo for the presidency. They
further warn that his constant push for larger shares of power risks alienating
coalition partners, who see his demands as overreaching and destabilising.
They are also viewed as perpetuating his “shareholding
politics”, which was among the sins he was accused of committing in his
impeachment.
“This is becoming a pattern. While Gachagua is positioning
himself as a strong voice for Mt Kenya, his approach may fracture opposition
unity at a critical moment,” political commentator Dennies Mwangi says.
“Already, some of his former allies, such as Gathoni wa
Muchomba and Kimani Ngunjiri, have left him, citing his reckless talk.”
Jubilee deputy organising secretary Pauline Njoroge opines
that the United Opposition, particularly DCP, must resist the temptation to let
the push for a leadership change in Nairobi turn into a tribal box.
“Yes, Kikuyus' votes are many, but that alone cannot make
one a governor, woman rep or even senator,” she said.
“If we insist on approaching 2027 with a single-tribe
mindset, simply because we desire to see a Kikuyu in City Hall, we will be
handing Ruto an easy through-pass. He will mobilise every community that feels
sidelined, and Nairobi will slip from our hands.”
Njoroge said winning Nairobi demands sober reading of where
the city is leaning, and a coalition built not just on tribes but ideas.
“A coalition of competence, credibility and a shared vision
for a city that serves all its residents, from the informal settlements to the
leafy suburbs. That is how the United Opposition team will win Nairobi,” she
said.
Political analyst Herman Manyora has termed the aftermath of
Gachagua's remarks a crisis, which was escalated by Kalonzo’s reaction.
Manyora termed Kalonzo’s move to deny the deal with Gachagua
a “disaster” for the opposition and an unnecessary escalation that created a
second crisis on top of the one the DCP leader had created.
The university don warned that such internal disputes should
be handled behind closed doors, as public confrontation projects an image of
disarray in the opposition.
“They are in a hole and they are digging. They should stop
digging,” he said.
Already, there is open hostility between Jubilee and
Gachagua’s DCP as the two Mt Kenya parties flex within the United Opposition
and in Central Kenya.
