Uhuru’s sagana meeting leaves Mt Kenya more divided – Weekly Citizen

The Sagana State Lodge meeting hosted by Uhuru Kenyatta for Gema leaders to calm down the rising political temperatures over his successor left the region more divided than before.

The meeting that was attended by over 4,000 leaders drawn from the Mt Kenya region, Nakuru, Lamu, Eldoret, Kajiado and Nairobi was geared towards uniting the region to shun premature 2022 presidential campaigns launched by William Ruto.

Bahati MP Kimani Ngunjiri

But instead, it left the leaders deeply divided with those backing the deputy president for the presidency in 2022 vowing to soldier on while those backing the handshake between Uhuru and Raila Odinga vowed to use all the resources at their disposal to ensure the then yet to be released Building Bridges Initiative is approved by the citizens.

According to Ruto’s diehard supporters such as Bahati MP Kimani Ngunjiri, the meeting had been organised by the Interior principal secretary Karanja Kibicho on behalf of the Kieleweke group that is opposed to Ruto succeeding Uhuru to intimidate the Tangatanga brigade.

Kimani avers that people who were marshalling guests in the tents were goons from Nairobi and they made sure MPs backing the deputy president did not access the VIP tent.

Interestingly, Sabina Chege, the woman representative for Murang’a county played host to the meeting rather than the area MP. Sabina abandoned the Tangatanga brigade for Kieleweke three months ago. She is a member of Embrace Movement, a women MPs group drumming up support for the handshake.

According to the Bahati MP, it was also interesting to see former Molo MP Njenga Mungai being given a chance to talk on behalf of Nakuru and the president clapping when the former MP made disparaging remarks about the deputy president.

Ngunjiri

The sharp divisions between Tangatanga and Kieleweke were after the meeting brought to the fore by Nyeri Town MP Wambugu Ngunjiri when he accused his Gatundu South counterpart Moses Kuria, who represents the president in the august house, of planning to lead a revolution against the head of state.

Kuria, who is believed to be Ruto’s pointman in the region, though he is acting as if he is independent, told the press after the meeting that it fell short of expectations that the region had on the president.

The Gatundu South MP said many of the things discussed at the gathering were a repetition of past addresses.

Kuria also regretted that some of the leaders who had been mandated to find solutions were from the region, but the same problems were still prevalent.

Uhuru and Gema leaders at Sagana

His reaction prompted the Nyeri Town MP to hit out at him, saying he had betrayed the president by leading revolution against his leadership in Mt Kenya.

Ngunjiri after the Sagana meeting posted on his Facebook that the meeting had resolved that Uhuru remains the spokesperson of the Mt Kenya region and people should not speculate on the content of Building Bridges Initiative.

He further said BBI should address the issue of one man one vote and equal representation, inclusivity and promote national unity and peaceful coexistence and the president engages with the Central Kenya leaders to address the economic problems facing the region, starting with Meru.

Other resolutions he claimed were arrived at the meeting included promotion of democracy where people do not live in fear but on values that promote good governance, good leadership and national unity and that all elected leadership should concentrate on solving the problems of the people.

Ngunjiri further stated that the meeting resolved that corrupt leaders be at least 10 yards from leadership and the president was not elected alone, he was elected alongside governors, senators, MPs, MCAs and all must play their role and blame for failure or success must be collective.

“Each must do their job with utmost dedication. The handshake has brought peace and tranquility in the country and should be supported,” he posted on his Facebook.

But a day later Ngunjiri and Mathira MP Rigathi Gachagua, while being hosted on a local television station, brought to the fore the differences between Kieleweke and Tangatanga during the show.

It was Gachagua, a diehard supporter of Ruto, who began by stating that he had no problem with the president but was, nevertheless, opposed to Raila despite the unifying handshake.

“Uhuru had stated that the BBI would be presented to the people and would be debated accordingly. However, I have a problem with Raila who once stated in Kibra that whoever opposed the BBI would encounter a tsunami,” Gachagua said during the show.

But Ngunjiri claimed that in the meeting, Uhuru made it clear that the handshake was for peace and not aimed at 2022 succession and that Raila had also outlined the same thing.

The Nyeri MP further stated that he had faith in his party leader and had no problem with the handshake unlike Gachagua, a pro-DP William Ruto legislator.