Nyeri Town MP Ngunjiri Wambugu has said that Deputy President William Ruto does not need the help of anyone to win over the Mt Kenya voter as the race fort he 2022 presidential contest heats up.
Ngunjiri who is allied to President Uhuru Kenyatta and the handshake termed the deputy president as a ‘brilliant political animal’ who is working on his own to get a slice of the huge voting bloc.
Taking to his social media pages on Wednesday, December 8, the legislator said that the little support Ruto currently enjoys in the huge voting bloc was out of his own efforts and not any of his his allies in the region who hope to be picked as his running mate.
“He (William Ruto) doesn’t need them to get votes from Mt Kenya. No one around him has the capacity to bring Ruto a new vote. That’s why he’s the one who invites them to speak when in the region,” Wambugu wrote on his Facebook page.
With barely eight months to 2022, analysts claim the presidential front runners; William Ruto and ODM leader Raila Odinga must appoint their running mates from the vote-rich region if they want to get a slice of the huge voting bloc.
In one of his recent rallies in the region, the deputy president hinted at picking Mathira MP Rigathi Gachagua as his potential running mate, due to his financial muscle, loyalty, and ability to attract crowds.
But according to Wambugu, William Ruto’s Mt Kenya allies including MP Rigathi Gachagua depend on him for the votes they will get and that he doesn’t need them to get a slice of the vote-rich region, a move that is likely to deny Gachagua a chance to be picked.
“Why would he give the powerful deputy president position to someone who doesn’t add any votes to his 2022 bid?” Ngunjiri posed.
“Ruto’s objective in the ‘no-tribe’ mantra that drives the hustler nation is primarily to hoodwink Mt Kenya to accept to support him without looking at who ‘of their own is in his government,” he added.
