By Rafael Ndung’u, Nairobi.
Deputy President Kithure Kindiki’s emerging role as a political voice for the Mt Kenya region has run into resistance, with two MPs openly rejecting the process used to present him as the region’s spokesman.
Ndia MP George Kariuki and Juja MP George Koimburi on Saturday questioned the legitimacy of the recent Kirigiti Stadium gathering, arguing that Mt Kenya residents and elected leaders were not adequately consulted before Kindiki was presented as a regional leader.
Photo|Mp George Koimburi (Left) and Ndia MP George Kariuki (Right)
The MPs spoke at Kariuki’s Gacharu home in Kirinyaga County, where Koimburi led a delegation from Juja.
Kariuki, who chairs the National Assembly Roads Committee, took a direct swipe at the Kirigiti meeting, questioning how a gathering attended by only a handful of elected leaders could be used to project a wider Mt Kenya political consensus.
“A stadium is for football, not to look for ourselves. Opportunities are given by God. We don’t want politics of optics, we want politics to talk with our people,” Kariuki said.
The Ndia MP said political leadership could not simply be declared from a public gathering without first engaging the people and their elected representatives.
“It is only one MP who is in the Kirigiti Stadium. You are starting to hold a tree from the top,” he said.
Kariuki and Koimburi questioned who had authorised the process of presenting Kindiki as Mt Kenya’s spokesman, insisting that such a position should emerge from consultation rather than a single political event.
“We wonder who advised him,” the MPs said.‘STOP DIVIDING MT KENYA’Kariuki also turned his fire on those advocating the division of Mt Kenya into political blocs, accusing supporters of the idea of being behind the Kirigiti gathering.
“We don’t want those politics of division. Those who are telling us to divide Mt Kenya region are now at Kirigiti Stadium. How soon have you become clever?” he posed.
He further questioned Kindiki’s political support in the region, pointing to the Deputy President’s visit to Mwea on Friday, which he said was attended by only the area MP.Koimburi escalated the criticism, accusing Kindiki of entering constituencies without adequately consulting their elected representatives.
The Juja MP said MPs would ultimately bear responsibility for security and political fallout arising from visits to their constituencies.
“If things go bad in my constituency or he is attacked like what happened in Embu, who will bear responsibility? It is me. Why then visit my constituency without my knowledge?” Koimburi asked.
He insisted that political leaders, regardless of their positions, must respect elected representatives and involve them in engagements within their constituencies.
“We must respect each other whether you are President, Deputy President or MCA. We can’t allow people to enter our place without asking us,” Koimburi said.
Koimburi also dragged the 2027 succession debate into the growing disagreement, saying Mt Kenya leaders should have a say in determining President William Ruto’s running mate.
“It is our time to be given an opportunity to choose a Deputy President who can work with William Ruto,” he said.
He referred to the 2022 selection process, claiming Mt Kenya MPs were given an opportunity to vote on Ruto’s preferred running mate and that Kindiki received 28 votes against former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua’s five.
The latest remarks point to an increasingly contested conversation within Mt Kenya over regional political leadership, consultation and who should speak for the region as the 2027 General Election approaches.