I watched and listened to the raw insults that Kikuyu MP Kimani Ichun’gwa hurled at Interior Cabinet secretary Fred Matiang’i. At one point, he dared the CS to “arrest them and put them in his stomach. Let him try to do such a silly thing and well teach him a lesson he will never forget. He is playing with fire”.
The MP had been angered by the CS’s remarks a few days earlier when he toured Kirinyaga county. Speaking at a fundraiser in aid of a school, Matiang’i told off his critics who seemed to suggest that he was not respecting DP William Ruto. He said he was appointed by President Uhuru Kenyatta “and is hence, only answerable to him because a home cannot be run by two men”.
The CS added that he was working very hard to help Uhuru implement the Big Four agenda and build his legacy. He was accompanied by his Principal Secretary Karanja Kibicho who has also been branded ‘an enemy of DP’.
The DP troops, who belong to the Tangatanga camp, would not take his remarks lightly. This is because they believe the DP is a co-principal in Jubilee government and he shares the same power with President. This assumption, however, is meant to drive a narrative that Uhuru owes his presidency to Ruto. That were it not for Ruto, he would not have become the President.
But I disagree with these assertions. Uhuru had an option of forming a coalition with another tribal kingpin as it had happened before. In 2002, a coalition of opposition catapulted former President Mwai Kibaki to power. Again, Uhuru and Ruto contested the presidency at the time when they were facing charges before the ICC in The Hague. So, no one was helping the other. Both worked very hard to win so that they can use the newly-acquired power to fight charges and prove their innocence.
In the subsequent polls held in 2017, we all know what transpired during the electioneering period. The leaders of the opposition NASA coalition would flag the myriad of ills which they would allege had been committed by the Jubilee administration.
In most of the public rallies, Raila would portray Ruto as the face of corruption and impunity. The DP, he would say, is giving Uhuru a bad name. That Uhuru has failed to stop him. But Ichung’wa and his brigade would not agree. They insist that Ruto helped Uhuru win and so Uhuru owes him.
However, the MP stooped too low in pushing Rutos 2022 presidential agenda. His anger and emotions demonstrated that he is not fit to be a leader and that he is probably taking the people of Kikuyu Town for a bumpy ride. They should learn from such incidences during elections.
Political analyst and blogger
