wrongturn
Elder Lister
Waiguru: My house gets lonely at times, and why Ruto’s UDA is the party to beat
Kirinyaga governor opens up about Mt Kenya politics, the fall of Jubilee Party and the scary onset of the empty nest syndrome in her home.
nation.africa
Now to politics. The indications are that you are joining, or have joined, Ruto’s UDA. Where are you in terms of political inclinations?
As I said some time back, I am listening (to the ground). All politics is local. You can be very involved in national politics and become very irrelevant, because you actually get yourself off your seat. The first rule in politics, in my view, is that you first secure your seat because that is what gives you an audience. Then you ask yourself, how do you do that?
Our political parties are not really based on different ideologies. What will determine which side you will go in 2022 is the people. The Wanjikus this time round want to be the ones who decide the direction that politicians go. Where I come from, the Wanjikus are tending to be on the UDA side. Now, I can make a choice and go against the grain and I could probably win, but I would have to spend a lot more because it is going against the grain.
And then I would not have a very good time governing after that because it is very possible that county assembly members would go the Wanjiku way. Why would I want to run on a party that is not popular where I come from? Why would I want to end up being a governor but the county assembly members belong to a different party?
The other thing is that I am pushing the women’s agenda. On that, we have no party. We really would like to see, across all sides, women being given their rightful positions. So, on my political leanings right now, the ground is significantly UDA in Kirinyaga and in Central Kenya.
So you are abandoning the President and going the Ruto way.
No, I have not abandoned the President. The President is not abandonable. But he is not running, he is now exiting. He has made it very clear to all of us about that. In fact I was one of those who at some point thought the BBI would allow him to come back as Prime Minister, and he told me to my face: “I am not coming back. I am finishing my term and I do not want to hear that conversation from you.” The second is that he is a politician par excellence. Look at his track record, he understands what I am doing completely, because what use am I to Uhuru if I am out?
You must be aware of the original founders of UDA and their political associates in Kirinyaga, including the current Woman Representative Wangui Ngirici. Wouldn’t they look at you as a johnny-come-lately? Do you think you even stand a chance?
Let me say this about politics and parties. First of all, there is no such a thing as a johnny-coming-lately to a party. You know from the Bible about those workers who were hired to go and dig and there were those who came at six in the morning, some at 10 and others in the afternoon but were all paid the same amount in the evening? Or the thief on the cross who asked Jesus to forgive him at the last minute before he died and went to the same heaven with the ones who had been Christians from Day One? That is how politics is run.
Secondly, I am not coming to be given a favour, I am coming with a following. I have a following in Kirinyaga and across the country. I have influence. If you are looking to be president you need all the votes you can get. They cannot say we have this one’s votes and therefore this one cannot come. How will you make it to State House? It is in their interests to have my supporters, Ngirici’s supporters and Martha (Karua’s) supporters. On whether I would get the UDA party ticket in a free and fair process, I will beat them all square and fair, hands-down.
That means you will deliver Kirinyaga to William Ruto for the presidential vote?
I said I am not going to be given a token. I have not yet announced whether I am going to UDA or not. I have told you that my view of the ground right now is that of UDA. Our biggest challenge in Mt Kenya right now is that we do not have a presidential candidate. All these candidates who have emerged, no one is following them.
How do you explain that?
Nobody is bothered! It is phenomenal. No one is talking about them. Even the people who are planning it are at a loss. They say, let us try Kagwe (Mutahi, the Health CS)... it is not going to go anywhere. They have tried Martha (Karua), nobody is focused there. (Jimi) Wanjigi even left Mt Kenya and went to look for votes in Luoland and the Coast. They made very serious assumptions, the main one being that Kikuyus would always galvanise around a Kikuyu. They were wrong.
Those who are planning succession think that if they get somebody from Mt Kenya they will carry the votes to either Raila or Ruto. They are wrong. People are no longer beholden to tribes. The young generation has upset that arithmetic. Young people are telling us that this time round they will be the ones to tell us where to go.
It is very intriguing, because they also feel that they are owed. You see, the reason Ruto is very popular in Mt Kenya is that he connects with the youth. They even say with emotion, with passion. Anatufeel, they say. Why? Because he has been present. In the last four years when those guys were going around the country selling BBI and the Handshake, Ruto camped there and was present. He connected with them. They also think he has played a very huge part in President Uhuru being in office for two terms
