Current position of Mithika Linturi from a cartoonist's perspective
By ALPHONCE SHIUNDU, ashiundu@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted Saturday, July 2 2011 at 21:49
Posted Saturday, July 2 2011 at 21:49
Trying to contact Igembe South MP Mithika Linturi at a time when he appears at ease with two political archrivals — Prime Minister Raila Odinga and Eldoret North MP William Ruto — was like trying to book an appointment with the President.
The man, who in ordinary times is easy to reach within Parliament, and who even calls the media to cover meetings of the Public Investments Committee (PIC), has all of a sudden become “unavailable” — slippery.
After making calls seeking an interview, the Sunday Nation decided to send a text message to the lawmaker expressing the need to talk with him.
The message asked him to confirm his availability for the date.“On what?” he posed back.
“The politics of your (Meru) region, your job as the chairman of the PIC, your relations with the Prime Minister and also your relations with (Mr) Ruto and your political ambitions,” the Sunday Nation replied.
After that, all calls to his mobile phone went unanswered.
Lately, the man whose constituency hosts Maua town in the heart of the miraa-producing zone — has been in the news for hosting Mr Odinga in his constituency, and then within weeks, hosting the PM’s political nemesis, Mr Ruto.
This left MPs from Meru region and their constituents confused as to whom exactly the MP was supporting and willing to work with.
Political prostitution
Political prostitution
Nithi MP Japheth Kareke Mbiuki, tired of what he called Mr Linturi’s “political prostitution”, decided to provoke Mr Linturi at a rally in Meru.
Mr Mbiuki, who insists that his total allegiance is with Mr Ruto and Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta, claimed that after the public rebuke in Meru, Mr Linturi “has seen the light and come back home”.
Mr Mbiuki had by then made a statement to the effect that Mr Linturi was just a step away from being named Mr Ruto’s running mate in the next General Election but that he squandered the chance when he (Linturi) hosted Mr Odinga in Meru.
“When I saw my brother messing around, I prompted him in public to tell the people where he stood,” Mr Mbiuki told the Sunday Nation.
He added: “We had a lengthy meeting on Monday where he asked for forgiveness, and he is now back in the fold. We will be going to Mombasa, and you will see that he is back in the fold.”
According to Mr Mbiuki, the MPs from Meru were not amused when Mr Linturi accompanied the Prime Minister on a trip to the United States in April. It was after that trip that Mr Odinga made forays into Meru, bringing in former Ntonyiri MP Maoka Maore.
But Mr Mbiuki said the bond between Mr Linturi and Mr Ruto was strengthened during the referendum campaigns — when both men spearheaded the “No” camp, while Mr Mbiuki, together with Mr Kenyatta, supported the “Yes” camp — adding that not even a trip to the US could change that.
Ironically, and maybe adding to the ongoing confusion, video footage sent to Kenya from New York shows Mr Linturi wearing a cap bearing the colours of the Kenyan flag, the same design popularised among the political class by Mr Ruto and the same cap won by the 40 MPs who accompanied the “Ocampo Six” to The Hague the same month.
The Sunday Nation caught up with Mr Maore in Parliament.
Like Mr Linturi, he was a strong supporter of Kanu and Mr Kenyatta. Again like Mr Linturi, he appears willing to work with Mr Odinga. “(Mr) Ruto is not a factor in Meru politics. In 2012 it will be Mr Odinga versus somebody else,” Mr Maore declared, flashing his new-found faith in ODM.
There are those who believe that Mr Linturi is firmly behind ODM and that his alliance with Mr Ruto is strictly for personal, not political reasons. But then the Ruto wing of ODM also believes that Mr Linturi is on their side.
“We are together with him,” said Isaac Ruto, the Chepalungu MP who has publicly declared that he is no longer in ODM but in UDM.
From a sober point of view, it is safe to conclude that Mr Linturi is playing both sides and doing it so deftly that both believe he is their man. This is possibly the reason he has become media-shy. He probably can’t risk speaking about it lest he antagonises both sides.
In the words of another political ally who did not want to be quoted for fear of being seen as bad-mouthing Mr Linturi, the Igembe South MP is “walking with his umbilical cord still attached to his mother and can’t let go”.
That was in reference to the soft spot that Mr Linturi reportedly has for Mr Ruto and Mr Kenyatta and his attachment to Kanu.
Another group of leaders believes that Mr Linturi’s “personal reasons” for associating with Mr Ruto and Mr Kenyatta stem from the concern that if the charges against them are confirmed, this would diminish the likelihood of one or both of them entering the race to succeed President Kibaki unless the case is concluded before the General Election.
That would also explain why Mr Linturi is courting Mr Odinga as a “practical” option.
It is here that some MPs are flashing “opportunist” as Mr Linturi’s middle name.
To justify the tag, they say it was unwise for Mr Linturi to fail to attend a function where the Prime Minister went to his constituency, issued 3,000 title deeds, launched a Sh1.2 billion road project on the Meru-Mikinduri-Maua road plus the expansion of the Nyambene District Hospital. No MP can pass up such an opportunity to show his people that he can actually “bring development”.
But his critics argue that it is pointless for Mr Linturi to hobnob with every presidential candidate who sets his or her foot in Meru.
Right of every Kenyan
“We welcome every presidential candidate to seek votes in our region,” said Mr Mbiuki, “but what was the point of him (Mr Odinga) distributing title deeds? That’s the work of the Lands ministry. It is the right of every Kenyan to have a title deed.”
But Mr Linturi seems to know otherwise: “We are very comfortable because the Big Three in this country, that is His Excellency the President, Mr Odinga and Mr Musyoka, visited my constituency and told my people that they would recognise miraa farming when they are elected to power.
“I am happy because the grand coalition agreement has brought on board the three leaders. I will be very comfortable to come to this House to ask the three leaders: Can you please be in a position to bring to this House a Bill that will recognise miraa farming?” Mr Linturi said in his maiden speech to the 10th Parliament in March 2008.
Well, according to him, as long as he has an ally in power, he’s game. If he has a person who can, say, ensure that the Sh30 million that changes hands in Maua every day from miraa proceeds is used to develop the area’s infrastructure, then he would smile and even “shake hands with the devil”.
For now, let’s see if he will be with Mr Ruto in political rallies or if he will accompany Mr Odinga.
Or will he continue associating with both camps and keep everyone guessing?Nevertheless, one of those who told Mr Linturi that he was writing his political obituary by taking Mr Odinga to Meru had a final piece of advice: “You should not send mixed signals to our people.
What we are trying to seek is political consistency.”
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