News making headlines on Saturday was that President Uhuru Kenyatta had paid a courtesy call to , retired President Daniel Moi and his son Gideon Moi at their Kabarak home. The meeting happened barely a few months after Deputy President William Ruto failed to meet Mzee at the same home.
Ruto was accompanied by Energy Cabinet Secretary Charles Keter, Ainabkoi MP William Chepkut and lawyer Stephen Kipkenda.
A statement from retired President Moi’s office said the brief meeting centred on the unity of the country
“President Uhuru Kenyatta today paid a courtesy call to His Excellency Mzee Daniel arap Moi at his Kabarak home. President Uhuru wished Mzee Moi well. Mzee Moi, on the other hand, thanked President Uhuru for steering the country towards the path of unity,” read the brief statement.
And now the question on many people’s lips is what the meeting means for Ruto’s 2022 presidential bid. Both Ruto and Gideon Moi have declared their interest in the top sit but it is believed that the Mount Kenya region favors a Gideon Moi presidency despite the deputy president being a core pillar of Uhuru’s two terms.
President Kenyatta was in Nakuru to attend the burial of the wife of former Kenya Defence Forces Deputy Chief Lt-Gen Joseph Kasaon
The Moi residence has been a beehive of activities for politicians in recent times. On April 14, NASA leader Raila Odinga visited Moi in Kabarak and was warmly welcomed, photos were taken and Gideon was present.
That friendly meeting was interpreted as an endorsement of the former PM’s role in the famous handshake between Raila and Uhuru, at the very least.
Ruto has been at loggerheads with Moi since the 90s when the DP is reported to have slapped Moi’s relative William Chesire in State House in 2006 as the two battled for the Kanu nomination for the Eldoret North MP seat. Ruto defied Moi’s request to step down for Chesire, and won.
The Deputy President is assembling a team of talented regional kingpins as he hopes to go to statehouse on first attempt. But the Moi family could be his biggest stumbling block.
He is considered the kingpin of the populous Rift Valley, a title that he had to wrestle from Moi’s stranglehold and which the junior Moi is so keen on reclaiming.
He also has to deal with Raila Odinga, whom he supported vehemently in the contagious 2007 polls. And now, it looks more likely that Raila and Moi may be in the same camp in 2022 just to make things hard for the man from Sugoi.
Kipchumba Murkomen, a key ally of the deputy president recently accused Raila of masterminding the inhumane Mau evicitions. The accusations did not go down well with ODM affiliated Mps who gave Murkomen a tongue lashing.
Ruto might, be the front runner in the 2022 poll, but it is still a long way to go, especially with the current political realignments and the lobbying we are witnessing.