Dr Alfred Mutua’s highly publicised date with professionals from the three counties of Makueni, Machakos and Kitui came to pass last weekend.
But it was the attendance or association to the Mutua cause of General Jeremiah Kianga which was the highlight of the plenary, graced by little known professionals other than the Chief Execution of the Kenya Film Classification Board, Ezekiel Mutua.
According to media reports on the caucus, former military chief Kianga was supposed to have attended the forum. Reports in a Sunday paper said the general expressed concern over the pace of development in Ukambani at a time when resources had been devolved to all counties in Kenya.
The reports did not explicitly say the soft-spoken general was in attendance at the summit. Investigations have since established that the general’s comments were voiced through an SMS to the organisers ostensibly because Kianga was allegedly held up in a family event.
The SMS, however, did not support or accuse any of the emerging political divides in Ukambani, but may have been an honest expression by a leading son of the region equally disappointed by the ongoing wrangling by politicians in Ukambani.
The above notwithstanding, tongues are already wagging about the timing and import of the general’s observation coming when Mutua is in the process of carving out a political kingdom for himself.
When Kianga retired from the military some seven years ago, talk was rife that he could join politics and vie for the Mbooni Parliamentary seat.
After all, he had experienced the negative side of politics during the post-election violence of 2008 when the country went to the dogs.
But Kianga stayed put, probably having been dissuaded by emerging political trends in his native Ukambani or perhaps having used his background as military intelligence chief to realise that his chances of being elected were limited.
His association with the Maendeleo Chap Chap could, however, point to political developments to come and a major shift of political thinking in Ukambani.
General Kianga’s relationship with Kalonzo Musyoka is not very clear. But some quarters say he played a key role in convincing Kalonzo to accept the Vice President position in a bid to end the 2008 violence.
Truth be told, Kianga has never been reported to have made or implied leanings to politics until he was quoted as being sympathetic to the cause of the Chap Chap movement this week.
Since he comes from Makeni county, Kianga cannot possibly be seeking an elective seat in Makueni as some of the Mutua professionals were heard suggesting. But those very keen on hauling him to the Mutua ship claim that the general has invested heavily in Machakos county and would be a welcome addition to the leadership of Masaku.
So why would he break his political silence at a professional meeting that was shunned by many known Kamba professionals?
The general is the chairman of the Kenya Railways Corporation, a state corporation which has earned the distinction of being the fixed abode for retired military chiefs.
He served as the Head of Military Intelligence prior to being appointed the Chief of General Staff.
From that vantage point, he can and should be able to synthesise the political direction the country is likely to take, or is privy to the thinking within top echelons of government
Kianga was the chief of general staff when Governor Mutua served as the first propagandist for the then President Kibaki administration. He, therefore, must have working knowledge of the Mutua transfiguration into politics as inculcated by those who appointed him to authority.
During his state of Ukambani address after his two-month working tour of Tanzania and Dubai, Mutua sought to paint himself as a political sacrificial lamb who is being fought for, seeking to make Ukambani a better place for residents.
At the end of the day, and after partaking of a pre-Easter meal, the professionals trooped back to where they had arrived from, myopically convinced that Mutua was facing the right political direction for himself and the good people of Ukambani.
But the Wiper multitude in Ukambani, while welcoming the Mutua meeting, said the caucus achieved nothing other than satisfying the governor’s ego.
Leaders supportive of Kalonzo, however, say that majority of the professionals in attendance were beneficiaries of appointments to various boards for either themselves or their spouses in Machakos county.
