Kikuyu leaders have issued Kenya’s Deputy President William Ruto with fresh demands just a week after MPs allied to the DP held a meeting at Kikuyu MP Kimani Ichungwa’s home where they gave him what is needed in exchange for their support.
With less than 14 months to the next General Election, the leaders from the vote-rich bloc have piled pressure on the second in command to unveil his 2022 lineup.
It has now emerged that the leaders who met the DP last weekend led by Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro and his Kikuyu counterpart Kimani Ichungwa want him to nominate one of their own as his running matein 2022.
“We want to do a two-part negotiation, economic revival and then political interest. Who fits in to push implementation of that economic revival agenda,” Ichungwa said.
“The economy of a country and destinies of nations are actually driven by the leader on the seat. You cannot ask the people on the back seat. Therefore, the reason why we are negotiating with the DP is because he has a good track record with his ministerial duties from Agriculture to Higher Education,” Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro said.
However, Kieni MP and Uhuru’s confidant Kanini Kenga argued that the leaders who are pushing Ruto to have a running mate from the Mt. Kenya region are rogues power brokers who do not have the interests of Kenyans at heart adding that they are not genuine representative of the region.
According to Kega, the only person who can negotiate on behalf of the people of Mt. Kenya is President Uhuru Kenyatta or his appointee.
“They have already declared support for Ruto and now they are pinning him with demands. Very interesting,” he criticized.
Ruto who held a three-day retreat with a section of leaders from Central Kenya however assured that all he wants was a non-ethnic, non-regional and non-divisive political foundation.
“We must engineer a fundamental paradigm shift from the perennial politics of personalities, positions, and power to a candid, open and frank engagement with the people on the economy, their aspirations and their future,
“Over the years, political positions have been created, power has been shared this way and that way, leaders’ interests have been catered for but this has not improved the lot of the overwhelming majority of Kenyans,” he said.
