Monday, October 17, 2011

Karua defies 'Uhuru wave' in Central Kenya




By Francis Ngige and Moses Njagih
When Martha Karua quit the Government in 2009, she sent political shivers down the spines of members of President Kibaki’s inner circle.
But the tough talking Gichugu MP and Narc Kenya chair has become a force to reckon with, emerging as the strongest challenger to Uhuru’s much touted domination of Central Province politics.
Having been a senior member of Kibaki’s administration, it was a big loss when she left the Government.
Soon after resigning her position as Minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs, there was fear
Narc Kenya leader Martha Karua gets a traditional Nandi makeover courtesy of Ms Christine Boit (left) and Ms Jane Maiyo before presiding over a fundraiser in aid of Kapkobis Catholic Church in Nandi County, on Sunday. [PHOTO: PETER OCHIENG’/STANDARD]
in Kibaki’s inner circle that Karua would join hands with ODM MPs to rock the Government.
Instead, she chose to chart her own path and appears to be reaping the results of her hard work, if the latest poll ratings by Infotrak Harris are anything to go by.
Then there is the Kibaki succession plan, which Karua threw off balance by announcing she would take a stab at the presidency.
The big question is, if Karua retains her momentum, will she be seen less as a "spoiler" for Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta, and more of a credible "Third Force" in the race to succeed Kibaki?
When she settled into the role of a backbencher in Parliament, Karua quickly upped her game by formally declaring her ambition to vie for the presidency on the Narc-Kenya ticket.
Today, her candidature cannot be taken lightly especially by those vouching for Uhuru.
There have been overtures by the Deputy Prime Ministers team to reach out and have her join them to ensure the region fields one presidential candidate next year.
Lone ranger
In her campaigns, the Gichugu MP has been reaching out to women and the youth, many of who flock her political meetings. Legislators from the region, however, do not attend the rallies, a fact that has seen her branded a "lone-ranger".
Nevertheless, Uhuru’s camp has spared no effort to have the Iron Lady shelve her presidential ambitions.
And the drive to woo her might gain momentum, especially after the recently released opinion polls, where her ratings had showed great improvement.
Though still trailing the Finance minister in the Infotrak Harris opinion polls released last week, the Gichugu MP had a rating of 11 per cent, two per cent points ahead of Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka.
Uhuru had 19 per cent in his favour. The poll was a remarkable improvement for Karua, who in December last year had a rating of only 5 per cent.
During the Kirinyaga Central by-election early this year, Uhuru extended an olive branch to Karua saying: "We should fight from a common front. I have no problem with my sister (Karua). Let her join us and we can talk in one voice. We know the danger of remaining divided because of what happened in 2007."
He added: "Our opponents’ claim that the rigging was fueled by the fact that PNU, which was Kibaki’svehicle, had only 48 MPs because the rest of parliamentarians belonged to other parties."
Sources close to Uhuru conceded that indeed the strategists in their Kibaki succession plan were wary of the "dangers" Karua’s candidature poses to the DPM’s chances of succeeding the President.
"She might not garner enough votes to win the presidency or to eclipse Uhuru as the Mt Kenya region political leader, but she is capable of claiming a sizeable number of the votes," said a former MP who is a close ally of Uhuru.
He said the strategists working on popularising Uhuru were avoiding the 1992 scenario where Kibaki (then in DP) was seen as acting a spoiler for Ford Asili presidential candidate Kenneth Matiba.
Clean sweep
"It is the view of many people that had Kibaki not vied for the presidency, it would have been a clean sweep for Matiba. That is the scenario that we must avoid at all costs," said the former MP.
An MP from Murang’a, however, said that Karua’s candidature was an exercise in futility as she could not match Uhuru’s popularity in the Mt Kenya region.
"I recently told my colleagues not to worry about Karua’s candidature because I don’t think she poses any danger to Uhuru. We should concentrate on uniting the people first.
"We have been advancing the argument that (William) Ruto is popular in Rift Valley because he commands a fanatical following. Why can’t one of us lead our course?" posed the MP.
He said for the region to seek a working relationship with other parts of the country, it must unite first under one political leader, now that Kibaki is exiting the scene.
Mwea MP Peter Gitau said it was important for Central Kenya to chart one political direction. "It is by uniting and speaking in one voice that other people will take us seriously," said Gitau whose constituency neighbours Karua’s Gichugu.
But former Naivasha MP Jayne Kihara, a close ally of Karua, said it was unfair for the Uhuru team to demand that Karua joins them yet she had a well-established party.
"Which party does Uhuru belong to? Is it PNU, Kanu or PNU alliance? Let him come and join us in Narc-Kenya and we will agree on a joint nomination and whoever is victorious will be backed by all," she said.
While rejecting overtures by the Uhuru side, Karua said she was not ready to step down in favour of anyone as she had already started the journey to State Hose.
"We are in a democratic country where competition is the name of the game. Let Kenyans decide," she was quoted saying after some politicians in Central Province demanded she steps down in favour of Uhuru.
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)