Is the populous Kikuyu community gravitating towards ANC leader Musalia Mudavadi as their presidential pick?
This is the question that has set tongues wagging following several quiet but significant functions by Mudavadi and influential regional leaders.
Mudavadi, a former vice president and deputy Prime Minister, has visited Murang’a and Kiambu counties four times in two months and held talks with people close to President Uhuru Kenyatta.
Privately he has met several rich and powerful Kikuyu business people in the last three weeks who, according to multiple sources, have pledged to support him in 2022.
Today Mudavadi is expected to host former MPs from Central Kenya to discuss 2022, among other issues.
Expected to lead the team is former Cabinet minister and Mukurweini MP Mutahi Kagwe and his Kandara counterpart Joshua Toro, a former assistant minister.
Last week the group met Kakamega governor Wycliffe Oparanya in a move insiders say is aimed at reaching out to the Luhyas.
The speculation about Mudavadi began on November 3, when President Uhuru Kenyatta in Nyeri declared that his choice of a successor in 2022 will be a “shocker”, a statement that unsettled Deputy President William Ruto’s supporters in the region and in his Rift Valley backyard.
The statement heightened anxiety in Ruto’s camp and some of his allies called it the clearest indication yet that Uhuru may renege on his promise to back Ruto for the country’s top job.
On Saturday November 14, Mudavadi met Jubilee vice chairman and President Kenyatta’s confidant David Murathe for more than seven hours at his (Murathe’s) rural home in Gatanga. The two had earlier attended the burial of renowned businessman Muchai Githu in Shomo village, Gatanga, before retreating to Murathe’s home.
On November 17 Mudavadi attended a church service at PCEA Ruaka where he later issued a press statement in support of President Kenyatta’s war on corruption.
Last weekend Mudavadi was invited by the PCEA national leadership to address their 120-year anniversary celebrations at PCEA Thogoto.
Though the local MP Kimani Ichungwa was present, the PCEA leadership only invited Mudavadi to address to the congregation.
According to church’s tradition, ‘outsiders’ or non-members are never allowed to address such a gathering.
Most people in Central Kenya are members of the PCEA church and it previously has played a big role in in deciding the community’s political direction.
It is generally understood that some politicians and business people are not comfortable with DP Ruto and are looking for alternatives.