The Tanga Tanga-Kieleweke wars are slowly dividing Mt Kenya region, which is slowly turning from a stronghold into a battleground and will soon never be declared as a stronghold and thus the kingship will be lost.
Nominated Senator Isaac Mwaura says that pressure is mounting from both sides for MT Kenya MPs to declare their stand.
“It is a very unfortunate situation because as Mt Kenya region, we are keen to be in the next government and to determine who becomes president of this country. Are the differences so huge that they cannot be bridged?” he posed.
The pressure, according to multiple sources, has been in the form of phone calls and sometimes thinly veiled threats from key Kieleweke and Tanga Tanga leaders.
The sources said leaders from both sides had been using Uhuru and Ruto’s names to compel “neutral” MPs to toe the line.
Ethnicity plays a big role in who makes it to the presidency in Kenya which is home to more than 40 tribes and competition for political seats has never been more serious, with most Kenyans getting behind candidates from their ethnic groups.
The five largest ethnic groups – the Kikuyu, Luhya, Kalenjin, Luo and Kamba – make up nearly 70 per cent of the country’s 48 million population, according to country’s last population census in 2009. Most of the leaders playing an important role in deciding the outcome of the election come from these tribes.
Kikuyus and especially Mt Kenya region have always been united and this is the reason they compete well in politics. Luhyas who also account for the largest group is however not able to raise leaders due to the division that is slowly being impregnated in Mt Kenya region.
In 2017, the opposition coalition led by former Prime Minister Raila Odinga from the Luo tribe – Kenya’s fourth-largest group chose his running mates are from the Luhya and Kamba group. Kenyatta’s running mate was from the country’s third-biggest tribe.
Politics in Kenya is fluid and ethnicity plays a huge part. To win the presidency, a candidate must win more than 50 percent and no single tribe has that number on its own.
Will Mt Kenya be divided?