By Henry Kimoli
The Uhuru succession plot is thickening by the day. With the political baby of BBI about to be born, top contenders for State House have come out guns blazing. Wiper hard man Kalonzo Musyoka has alluded to a deal with Raila Odinga.
The DP William Ruto brigade now says they will fully back Uhuru until his last day in the office then demands debt repayment by GEMA. Musalia Mudavadi is waiting for the fall out so that he can stroll to State.
Musalia, whose Western Kenya base is shaky due to the Raila factor, has to reckon with myriad challenges from Senator Malala, Governor Wycliffe Oparanya, the Mukhisa Kituyi shadow, and the noisy neighbors from Tanga Tanga led by Boni Khalwale and Washiali. And Baba aka Raila Odinga, who is now being backed by the system privately says he will win the election and thereafter retire. But perhaps the civil war in Ukambani will be the curtain-raiser.
The Kalonzo, Ngilu supremacy has been relaunched. A video that has gone viral captures the Kitui Governor saying that Kalonzo will never rule Kenya despite his bid to succeed President Kenyatta as a pipe dream. The recording captures a recorded conversation between Ngilu and maverick Ukambani politician Kalembe Ndile. The duo, in a dismissive and arrogant tone, says that Kalonzo is a political turncoat and an opportunist who cannot be trusted.
“His desire was to stop Uhuru from ruling Kenya. He opposed Uhuru in 1992, in 2013 and 2017. No one can trust him”, Ngilu is heard scoffing in the video. In the current edition of the Sunday Nation dated 26th July 2020, Kalonzo has sensationally claimed he has a deal with Raila Odinga to back him in 2022. ODM has since denied the existence of a deal and accused Kalonzo of playing dirty politics.
In the interview, Kalonzo hast distanced himself from the Ngilu impeachment saga pitting the Governor and MCA’s.
But the Wiper leader has said the law must be followed to the letter. Kalonzo and Ngilu have been sworn political enemies since she joined politics in the 1990’s. Kalonzo’s strategists say Ngilu was thrust into national politics by then Vice President George Saitoti as part of a strategy to lock Kalonzo out of the Moi succession matrix. Like Dr. Mukhisa Kituyi who was bankrolled by Saitoti backers to defeat Elijah Mwangale in 1992, Ngilu was kited by political forces outside Ukambani.
Ngilu’s camp however accuses Kalonzo of cowardice. They say Kalonzo never saw a political fence he never wanted to seat on adding that the Wiper man should have contested for the Presidency earlier than 2007. Ngilu captured the imagination of the nation when in 1997, she ran on an SDP ticket, giving Moi a run for his money. And this time, it’s vicious.
The battle, which stretches back to 1992 has seen the pair wrestle each other many times sometimes playing dirty. In 1992, Charity Ngilu, then of Mwai Kibaki’s DP floored George Ndotto, then a cabinet minister in the Moi regime. Ndoto has never recovered.
Meanwhile, President Kenyatta is enjoying his final term in office as everybody seeks his endorsement for the big office.
So far, only Uhuru knows who he will support, if all. Former President Mwai Kibaki pretended to support Mudavadi, whose running mate was his nephew, But he was captured voting for Uhuruto in 2013 at Othaya.
Will Uhuru do the same?
