Kuria steers clear of national politics, fights for village parties » Capital News

NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb 19 — Gatundu South Member of Parliament Moses Kuria has vowed to resist coercion to choose which of the two main alliances he will support ahead of the August 9 presidential election.

Kuria has been under pressure to declare whether he supports Kenya Kwanza Alliance comprising Deputy President William Ruto, Musalia Mudavadi of Amani National Congress (ANC) Party and Moses Wetangula of FORD Kenya or the Azimio Movement led by former Prime Minister Raila Odinga.

Kuria who held a thanksgiving ceremony at Thika Stadium on Saturday after returning from Dubai where he had sought treatment for third degree burns he had suffered on his feet pledged his allegiance to God noting that “nothing else mattered.”

“People have been asking me a lot which of the two alliances I will support and today I want to answer them categorically that I am on the side of God. The moment I will see another big miracle I will decide but at the moment I have seen God’s miracle and I will stick with Him,” he said.

The Chama Cha Kazi Party Leader told the crowd that had gathered to see him after four months of absence in the political arena: “I am now a sycophant of God”.

A grateful and jubilant Kuria who appeared a little bit frail was however quick to register his disappointment over Ruto’s failure to attend his thanksgiving ceremony.

Kuria had invited Ruto and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga among other high profile leaders to attend his meeting but only leaders drawn from the Mount Kenya Unity Forum including Narc Kenya Party Leader Martha Karua, former Mukurweini MP Kabando wa Kabando and TPS Party Leader Mwangi Kiunjuri honored his invite.

“There are people who thought this was a political rally and all the members of the United Democratic Alliance did a meeting and resolved not to attend my meeting,” he said.

Kuria lamented that the party which he once supported had abandoned him at the hour of need.

It’s only UDA’s Legal Affairs Secretary Edward Mureu who graced the event courtesy of being Kuria’s friend.

“I want to send you my friend go and tell my good friends from UDA who made me to be removed from all the committees in Parliament and who made me to be frustrated by this government that this was not a political rally,” he said.

Kuria maintained that the agenda of the Central Kenya region was his priority and that of his party in the period leading to the General Election as he dismissed the idea of parties folding and forming one big outfit.

“This idea should not be tolerated of somebody thinking that we can all fit in their trouser,” he said.

Karua who assured Kuria of her support also termed regional parties as crucial to democracy noting that the Jubilee Party became undemocratic after it merged.

She equated the Jubilee Party to an oversize trouser and warned that a similar arrangement of party dominance risks eroding  the country’s democracy.

“Let there be no repeat of what we have seen. Let the electorate be free on whoever they want to vote for. Let us not vote for leaders based on which political parties they are using but let us vote for them based on their skills and capabilities,” she said.

Kiunjui also rooted for the stability of independent parties noting that their existence is critical in fostering diversity and democracy in the country.

“No amount of threats will take us back, we will remain with our parties as we strive to fight for our people’s needs,” he said.