A few days ago, a local daily published as story suggesting President Uhuru Kenyatta was grooming former Gatanga MP Peter Kenneth to take the post of the Prime Minister in 2022. This is not the first time this is coming up.
It is true Peter Kenneth stands a high chance of succeeding President Uhuru Kenyatta in the region upon completing his second term in office.
However, there is the proposal by the BBI team to create the PM's position and two deputies.
It would thus appear Uhuru’s strategy is not only to make him the de facto leader of the Mt Kenya region but also to ensure he carves out a niche for him as a national leader.
A recent meeting at a Nairobi Hotel signalled this.
A caucus that brought together eight key allies of the President was led by National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi and Meru Governor Kiraitu Murungi . Kenneth was the only non-elected leader from Central Kenya who attended the lunch meeting.
Also, in the recent meetings involving Cotu secretary general Francis Atwoli's camp, Kenneth has been among the attendees.
In the run-up to 2017 General Election, it was clear Uhuru would have wished to see Kenneth become the governor of Nairobi.
This, however, didn’t come to pass mainly for two reasons. First, the political differences between the President and Nasa presidential candidate Raila Odinga.The opposition coalition was controlling a huge chunk of votes in the capital city.
Second, Governor Mike Sonko, Kenneth’s key rival, would not step down. Having endeared himself to the poor masses, he hit out at PK and top Jubilee Party officials.
He alleged plans to rig him out during the party primaries, threatening that if that happened, he’d decamp to Nasa
Were this to happen, Jubilee would once again lose the capital.
In the Kikuyu nation, Kenneth is among the politicians rated highly. Many cite his track record when he served as Gatanga MP. Again, we have never heard him being associated with corruption scandals and other social ills that have, over the years, hindered the growth of our economy and had serious impact on our livelihoods.
So if Kenneth is the safe pair of hands Uhuru will leave Central Kenya in, so be it.
Mutua Ndonga is political analyst and blogger
