Mass exodus from DP camp shaking the once popular numerical strength
Like a house of cards, the numerical strength in Parliament that Deputy President (DP) William Ruto once boasted about is crumbling under his very eyes each day, with Maragua MP Mary Wamaua the latest to announce that she is switching camps.
She said she is now a disciple of the Handshake between President Uhuru Kenyatta and ODM leader Raila Odinga.
On Friday, Mandera Governor Ali Roba and Senator Mahamud Mohamed led more than 30 local elected and nominated MPs and MCAs from the region in shifting support to President Kenyatta and his partnership with Mr Odinga.
Mr Roba had for a long time been regarded as DP’s key ally in the northern frontier. The leaders vowed to back the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) and the proposal to have referendum on the Constitution.
Many of the DP’s allies have been making such announcements lately, with observers coming up with theories on the shifting alliances.
It is a combination of factors, ranging from fear of State’s tools of coercion to political survival in the next General Election, as each of them wants to align themselves with the perceived ‘winning team’.
Then there is another fear that those who choose to stick with the DP may have their regions starved of development projects as was the norm before the 2010 Constitution was promulgated. Constituencies represented by MPs who were anti-establishment those days were denied development money to incite the masses against such leaders.
The Maragua MP captured this in her explanation of the Damascus moment. She said remaining in Tangatanga would see her region lose out on billions worth of projects in the remaining two years of Mr Kenyatta’ presidency.
“I was elected to push for development that improves quality of lives among my Maragua people. I had to choose pursuing the wing that guarantees me that development or that wing that guarantees me endless agony, resultant of defying the president,” Ms Maua said.
She also said her constituency has been slotted for irrigation and domestic water projects, at least 100 kilometres of tarmac, sewerage infrastructure, security and health projects, the reason it was more diligent not to “bite the hand that feeds me”.
“Anyone in my shoes would understand why I have chosen to conform to the system and all else now is water under the bridge. We are all Kenyans in pursuit of that common good, only that for now, my bread is well battered in being President Kenyatta’s disciple,” she said.
Another school of thought is fear that the Directorate of Criminal Investigations may be unleashed to look for skeletons in their cupboards and have them arraigned in court or prosecuted.
Already, it is widely held within Tangatanga that the ongoing investigations that saw Mathira MP Rigathi Gachagua summoned by sleuths was a way of making him reconsider his support for the DP. Mr Gachagua is among the most vocal Dr Ruto supporters from Central Kenya.
The DP is, however, shrugging off the ‘exodus’, saying the government was employing a carrot-and-stick strategy to win them over.
“About 80 per cent of those said to be ditching the DP have been intimidated or threatened with prosecution over real and imagined crimes. The others have been promised business with government or development for their people,” the DP’s press secretary Emmanuel Talam said.
He said former President Daniel Moi tried the tactic before the 2002 elections.
“We are aware of the results of that election,” he added. Mr Kenyatta, Moi’s protégé in the elections that year, was beaten by Narc’s Mwai Kibaki.
Several governors who openly supported the second in command have either gone mute or shifted their allegiance. It is easy to deal with most county chiefs given the many cases of graft in counties.
DP Ruto is in a catch-22 situation. While some of his advisers are said to be pushing him to take the war to Mr Kenyatta’s doorstep, he runs the risk of scaring away Central Kenya MPs still stuck with him.
The shifting political architecture is another reason. With clear signs that Mr Kenyatta and Dr Ruto may not pull in the same direction in the next General Election, allies of each of them are aligning themselves with the side they estimate can guarantee them a lifeline in the next dispensation.
Laikipia Woman Rep Catherine Waruguru, a one-time self-confessed foot soldier of the DP, which earned her the Mama Simba tag, does not have any kind words for him now - for her, the DP has suddenly turned into a three-headed monster.
She has not only visited Mr Odinga’s Capitol Hill offices to prove that she’s ‘now saved’ but has also been firing strong tweets aimed at the DP.
It is a case of convenience and pragmatism. The first-time MP, said to be warming up for the Laikipia County governorship in 2022, has switched sides, as identifying with President Kenyatta is one of the sure ways of enhancing her chances in line with local politics.
“I was not forced or coerced by anyone, I did what I did for the good of the people of Laikipia. As long as they will benefit from government projects, I don’t mind,” the legislator noted.
To ‘salvage his fortunes’, Emurua Dikirr MP Johana Ngeno is suggesting that the DP consider mending fences with Mr Odinga, an idea the DP’s allies have frowned upon.
Belgut MP Nelson Koech and his Keiyo South counterpart Daniel Rono yesterday told the Sunday Nation that they have a lot of support in Western Kenya and Mt Kenya and trying to bring the ODM chief on board will be inconsequential to their matrix.
Mr Koech was extremely hesitant on the reconciliation gesture while categorical that they have made several friends and so they would not want to keep them off by bringing the former premier on board.
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