Revealed: Mudavadi’s plot to destroy Ruto’s ambitions, clinch the top seat

ANC leaderMusaliaMudavadiarrives inKakamega forMashujaa Daycelebrations onOctober 20, 2018. /CALISTUS LUCHETU
PHOTO/COURTESY

Do you remember Amani National Congress (ANC) Leader Musalia Mudavadi telling off Western leaders on issues of backing DP William Ruto’s 2022 presidential bid?

Mudavadi urged western Kenya leaders to unite and have their own representative at the top most political seat, little did we know that he had already lunched plans of clinging to the seat.

The ANC leader is now targeting President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Central Kenya backyard as he plots his 2022 presidential bid.

Known as cautious and mild-mannered, the former Vice President has quietly been meeting leaders from the populous region in hopes of convincing them to back him.

“Our eyes are on the prize and we believe we are on course to win the next election,” Mudavadi told one of the local dailies in an interview yesterday.

Ethnic and regional affiliations have long been central to Kenya’s politics and the former Deputy Prime Minister is hoping to make inroads in the region with almost eight million voters.

In the last two elections, the region voted as bloc for Uhuru, but with the head of state retiring in four years, the fight for the region’s allegiance is intensifying.

There is even talk in Mudavadi’s camp that he may pick his running mate from Uhuru’s Mt Kenya bastion.

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The President shocked the region, and much of the nation, last week when he told local leaders that his pick for the presidency will shock some of them.

There was once a pact that Deputy President William Ruto was the heir apparent and would be backed for the top job.

Ruto has made numerous trips to Central where he has been giving generously at harambees for churches, schools and other worthy causes.

Mudavadi is building his reputation as a moderate leader, a steady pair of hands and the most credible opposition voice in the post-handshake era.

His former Nasa co-principals Raila Odinga of ODM and Kalonzo Musyoka of Wiper have decided to work with President Kenyatta, so the ANC leader is positioning himself as the the most trustworthy figure to succeed Uhuru.

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Mudavadi is understood to be planning an extensive tour of Mt Kenya from January next year when he will court leaders from all the counties.

Two months ago Mudavadi held a meeting in Nakuru, which was attended by former TNA grassroots officials from Central Kenya and parts of Rift Valley. They endorsed Mudavadi for 2022.

Since then he has met former Kiambu governor William Kabogo and former Nyeri senator Mutahi Kagwe, among others. Mudavadi is also planning to meet Nyeri governor Mutahi Kahiga, Kirinyaga’s Anne Waiguru, Muranga’s Mwangi wa Iria, Embu’s Nyagah Wambora and Meru’s Kiraitu Murungi in the coming week.

Central Kenya leaders have been feuding over who should be Deputy President Ruto’s running mate.

Leaders from Meru, Isiolo, Tharaka Nithi and Embu regions have made it clear that it’s their turn to produce the next deputy president and Trade minister Peter Munya is one of the people Mudavadi is hoping to bring onboard.

Ford Kenya deputy party leader Boni Khalwale has been appearing in public meetings in Western Kenya and telling residents to support Deputy President Ruto in 2022.

In his weekend remarks, he asked Ruto to pick either Mudavadi or Wetang’ula as his running mate but Mudavadi has termed Khalwale as a self-confessed Ruto convert and supporter who does not speak for the Luhya but speak for himself. Will DP Ruto really manage the race now that he has gained another new rival?

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