Uhuru strategy suffers as parties disown unity deal

By Juma Kwayera

Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta is walking a tightrope in central Kenya with his presidential ambition looking tepid after the political parties that had endorsed him renounced the deal.

Arguably, the most popular politician at the moment in central Kenya, Uhuru has been sending mixed signals about his candidature, even after launching a brand new political party, The National Alliance (TNA).

It is intriguing his presidential bid has precipitated such an unusual degree of ambivalence with only a few politicians willing to discuss his candidature in definitive terms, while a significant number is said to be waiting to troop out to non-Gema parties.

The decision by leaders of the Party of National Unity (PNU), the Alliance Party of Kenya (APK), and Grand National Union (GNU) party highlights the fear and suspicions that the Deputy Prime Minister’s glow in Central Province politics is gradually on the wane – helped partly by the criminal charges he faces at the International Criminal Court and perceptions it would be serious political miscalculation for another Kikuyu to succeed President Kibaki.

Pressure is thus mounting on the TNA leader to set aside his bid to succeed Kibaki. He has responded with reaching out to his erstwhile adversaries, some the most unlikely.

With the shifting balance of power in Central, the party Uhuru leads is increasingly finding it difficult to attract membership, precipitating a situation where the DPM is forced to reach out to other parties to bolster his own standing.

Six months ago, the political elite jostled for Uhuru endorsement. Chairman of the Kikuyu Council of Elders Wachira Kiago acknowledges that Central is at a crossroads, but can wriggle out of if Uhuru sits down with leaders from other regions.

“We do not want Central to be isolated. A compromise on who succeeds Kibaki with other communities is what we are pushing for and we plan to meet Uhuru to tell him as much,” says Kiago.

Kanu baggage

Uncertainty stalks Uhuru every step of the way. When he decamped from Kanu, it was because he wanted to extricate himself from baggage that stalked his electability. Later, he stayed clear of United Democratic Forum (UDF) lest he became a ‘project’ of the founders of the party. But this was after the late Prof George Saitoti closed the door on him in PNU and he shunned Kiraitu Murungi’s APK because he wanted a party he would control.

TNA’s belated registration, plus the emergence of UDF and Central’s apprehension of hostility from other communities, has placed the DPM in a bind. Assistant Minister and Laikipia East MP Nderitu Murithi agree Mt Kenya faces tough choices ahead of the presidential election.

“The uncertainty is there and this is because Mt Kenya like the rest of Kenya has many parties to choose from. The freedom of political activity and the pursuit of democratic space is forcing the electorate to take time and reflect on where they want to go,” says Mureithi, a UDF founder member.

Murithi would not be drawn into discussing further the relationship between his party and TNA. The Standard On Sunday had wanted him to responded to questions about why a reported alliance between UDF and TNA had become moot. Attempts to form an alliance between UDF and TNA have stuttered, with the latter reportedly apprehensive of the former’s encroachment on its turf.

The choices are made difficult following reports that President Kibaki and the First Family are more inclined to UDF. Besides, there is the age-old rivalry between Kiambu, which hogged power when Uhuru’s father, Jomo Kenyatta, was President and the rest of central Kenya. Then there is the ODM charm offensive, with PM Raila Odinga slugging it out with TNA and UDF for a slice of the Central vote.

Unlike Kanu, which the DPM dumped for TNA, the latter lacks the kind of countrywide presence the independence party had previously enjoyed. That TNA is being built from the scratch limits its activities to mainly Gema regions, a situation Wachira Kiago says does not augur well for anybody who expects be president.

“The situation is a little tricky, even fragile. We plan to meet Uhuru and impress upon him to sit down on with leaders from other regions and agree on who runs. This idea of people forming loose alliances does not resonate well with supporters who want to be sure of victory. He has to show us where to go,” says Kiago. 

He says there are plans to bring on board elders from other communities – notably Western, Rift Valley, and Kisii regions as a means of convincing Uhuru to work with non-Gema leaders.

It is not clear why APK leader and Energy Minister Kiraitu Murungi, PNU Secretary General and Transport Minister Amos Kimunya, and GNU leader and Public Works Assistant Minister Mwangi Kiunjuri backed out of the alliance they had mooted with TNA. Kiunjuri wants parties to have the freedom and the right to field candidates.

Party laws

In a veiled rejection of Uhuru’s clout, the Assistant minister says: “For example, I’m the GNU party leader, but I cannot dictate what happens in other parties or what members want. We follow the party constitution.”

Interestingly, three weeks after Kimunya announced his party support for Uhuru’s presidential bid, he on Monday signed an advertisement inviting aspirants for presidential, gubernatorial, senatorial, parliamentary, women and youth representatives’ seats. Even more confounding was PNU chair Gideon Konchella’s announcement his party will field candidates for all seats in the polls, ruling out any pre-election alliance.

The impression central Kenya leaders give privately, but which they would not admit publicly, is that Uhuru is a man under siege.

Kinangop MP David Ngugi, an ally of Uhuru, explains the backtracking as precipitated by the Political Parties Act, which requires such an arrangement to be a product of a party resolution.

“Uhuru is the most popular candidate in Central. Those who are backtracking realised they made the statement without consulting their parties. They spoke as individuals, not parties. Party officials were going to support Uhuru as person, not his party, to run for president. Uhuru is the most popular aspirant in central Kenya,” says Ngugi.

That notwithstanding, The Standard On Sunday is informed that erstwhile political adversaries have begun reaching out to each other. There are reports that Uhuru has initiated contact with the PM through the latter’s elder brother, Oburu Odinga. This could a realisation Raila may be a one-term president, and 2017 elections give high chances to who ever makes a deal with him now for the March General Election.

Uhuru is such a sensitive topic politicians from Gema communities would rather avoid.  None of the MPs interviewed would confirm or deny the reports. This comes on the back of revelations that UDF presumptive presidential candidate Musalia Mudavadi made contact with Eldoret North MP William Ruto, which somewhat strained relations between the two DPMs.