- There’s a plot to derail a prominent member of the President’s column in the 2022 succession election.
- The plot advances the clash between owners of the Jubilee regime—Uhuru and Ruto
The Senate acrimoniously settled on the formula of handling Governor Anne Waiguru impeachment proceedings. But the tussle over whether to go the committee of 11 or the plenary way of 67 senators, evoked emotions that suggest the lawmakers have divided loyalties.
The rancour over the formula, rather than the answer; the means, rather than the end, is a loaded political message. And when opinion pundits say by going the committee way the governor has survived the first hurdle, observers have reason to suspect an insidious plot.
Claims of abuse of office, a breach of procurement rules, and default on a state of the county address are stilts on which the political motivation rides.
The images of MCAs sleeping overnight in a crowded room at the Kirinyaga county headquarters point to a conspiracy. The vigil was not necessary if public interest was the only driver of the MCAs’ actions. The appearance of leaflets across Kirinyanga on Monday morning, even as the committee began sitting this week, reinforces the conspiracy.
The sleep-out suggests the MCAs were captured. The puppeteers did not want a counteroffer that could derail the conspiracy. There is a plot to derail a prominent member of the President’s column in the 2022 succession election.
The plot advances the running clash between owners of the Jubilee regime—President Uhuru Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto. Or the Kieleweke and Tangatanga factions of Jubilee.
The opening of Jubilee Asili Centre to host the Tangatanga squad, away from the official Jubilee headquarters in Pangani, points to the spiralling clash of interests. These interests cloud the issues around Waiguru’s impeachment.
Claims of impropriety have political undercurrents. Someone is looking for Waiguru’s head. Siaya Senator James Orengo claims he knows the trophy hunter. He claims Kirinyaga MCAs are conduits in a 2022 succession conspiracy.
Orengo’s metaphor of John the Baptist’s head is poignant. So is Senator Kipchumba Murkomen’s emotional reaction to the imagery. Orengo aligns with the presidential side of the amity between the President and ODM leader Raila Odinga. Murkomen claws for the DP. Waiguru is a causality in the Jubilee power tussle.
The former Senate Majority leader, Murkomen, is increasingly developing a penchant for personalising metaphors. He suspects someone is targeting his benefactor. Every time he does, he betrays the thinking of his master. The senator is emotional and irritable in Parliament, as he often is on air. He is querulous, sounding like a man more offended than offending.
There is a context to his explosive temper: The man lost his clout as majority leader because of his specious love for the DP. Murkomen often finds himself in conflict, defending his benefactor and antagonising the President.
Now, the Elgeyo Marakwet senator is excited to see others lose their positions, even in spurious circumstances. Claims of impropriety have been weaponised to disrupt possible 2022 succession election alliances.
Before the Building Bridges Initiative, a consequence of the rapprochement between the President and the former Prime Minister, the governor was billed as the DP’s possible presidential running mate. The possibility has faded, which makes Murkomen’s anger a case of sour grapes. You spite what you cannot get.