Kalonzo Musyoka became the latest leader to find his way into Kabarak, the home of retired president Daniel Arap Moi.
The home has become particularly important since the March 9 handshake between President Kenyatta and Nasa leader Raila Odinga.
Among those who have trooped there to consult Mzee Moi are President Kenyatta, Mr Odinga and his ODM deputy party leader Hassan Joho, Cotu boss Francis Atwoli and Cabinet Secretary Eugene Wamalwa, both seen as influential leaders in western Kenya.
Mr Joho, on the other hand, is one of the senior politicians from the Coast region. However, when Deputy President William Ruto went to see the retired president, he was stopped at the gate. According to Senator Gideon Moi, the retired president was seeing his physiotherapist when Mr Ruto showed up “unannounced”.
The snub was seen as a slap in the face for the Deputy President, who has left no doubt that he intends to be on the ballot during the 2022 presidential election.
Mr Gideon Moi has also shown presidential ambitions. When he represented his father at the funeral of Mr Musyoka’s father last Friday, he told mourners he would be back, ostensibly to ask for their support ahead of the 2022 poll. He also asked voters in the region to allow their political leaders to work with him.
At the same meeting, Mr Musyoka said he was ready to work with President Kenyatta and within the week was appointed special envoy.
Friday, Mr Musyoka, who served as vice president under President Kibaki and as minister under President Moi, led a team of Ukambani leaders among them his son Kennedy, who is an MP in the East African Legislative Assembly, and Makueni Senator Mutula Kilonzo Jnr to Kabarak where they were welcomed by Senator Moi. Others in the meeting were Kajiado Central MP Elijah Memusi, Kitui senator Enock Wambua and Tiaty MP William Kamket.
According to a source in Wiper party, the visit had been in the works for several months. Senator Wambua and his Baringo counterpart were involved in planning the visit, initially slated for September.
The meeting was then moved to December but a quick date for this month was fixed after Mzee Moi received news of the passing of Mr Musyoka’s father, Musyoka Mairu.
Mr Wambua said the retired president requested Gideon to organise an urgent meeting with Mr Musyoka.
“The new date was fixed at the insistence of Mzee Moi himself,” he said.
The younger Moi has attended at least three public meetings in Kitui this year alone. He appears keen to forge a political alliance with the Wiper leader who was Mr Odinga’s running mate in the last two elections.
At some point, Tiaty MP William Kamket, a close confidant of Mr Moi, suggested that the retired president had instructed the leadership of Kanu to reach out to Mr Musyoka for coalition talks.
But it is the symbolism of the visit that is most curious, indicating that the 2022 succession politics is playing out already.
This is particularly important considering that Deputy President William Ruto who, like Mr Musyoka, considers the retired president as a mentor has been blocked from accessing the increasingly important home or even seeing the old man.
Mr Ruto’s visit came after Mr Odinga, his political rival, had visited the home and was allowed to meet the former president. Soon after, Mr Joho visited was welcomed to Kabarak. Just three weeks ago, Cotu boss Atwoli was at the home in the company of Mr Wamalwa.
While the decision to block the DP angered his allies who interpreted it as a scheme to block Mr Ruto from taking over from President Kenyatta, the constant visits by political heavyweights leave no doubt that something is afoot.
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