Senator warns Ruto against early 2022 campaigns

President Uhuru Kenyatta with Deputy President William Ruto at JKIA shortly before departing to Botswana on June 27, 2016. A senator has said Mr Ruto's 2022 presidency is not guaranteed. PHOTO | PSCU

What you need to know:

  • The senator has, in fact, held this position for some time and repeats it on his regular appearances on Gikuyu television and radio stations.
  • On social media, Jubilee Coalition supporters criticised him on the basis that he is not elected, is not a spokesman for any group, and is certainly not one of the well-known or influential politicians.

Barely two weeks after Kiambu Governor William Kabogo was criticised for saying that Deputy President William Ruto would not enjoy the automatic support of the Mt Kenya region in 2022, another politician has publicly taken the same position.

But unlike the Kiambu governor, who was forced to recant his statement after he came under fire from friend and foe in the region, Nominated Senator Paul Njoroge Ben is not about to disown his remarks.

He is, in fact, quite eager to explain what he means and why he has repeated the statement despite the criticism.

“Since Independence — I’m not that old but I have participated in quite a number of campaigns and elections — I don’t remember any one particular time that we held concurrent campaigns for two elections,” said Mr Njoroge in an interview with the Daily Nation in Nairobi on Monday.

“What is happening now is that the Deputy President is working very hard for the campaigns of 2022. I do not understand why we need to go into that mood when we are in the mood for 2017 elections.”

He argued that, with President Uhuru Kenyatta already assured of the central Kenya vote for a second and last term, Mr Ruto’s incursions into the region are only meant to garner his support for his 2022 bid for the presidency.

“It’s my feeling that the Deputy President is trying to blackmail the Kikuyu community when we know very well he is adding no value to (President Kenyatta’s) 2017 bid,” said Mr Njoroge, adding that his aim was not to stoke tension or draw undue attention to himself, but to keep the Jubilee boat steady.

“I belong to Jubilee,” he assured. “My heart beats for Uhuru.”

He argued that early campaigns by Mr Ruto would only stoke tension in the Rift Valley region.

“We keep promising Ruto that we are going to vote for him in 2022; suppose he feels betrayed (if we do not keep that promise), and then his people in the Rift Valley feel betrayed, you know how the story goes... and you know very well,” said the senator. “We might be creating unnecessary trouble.”

While his public pronouncements over the matter last weekend have generated a major political heat, the senator has, in fact, held this position for some time and repeats it on his regular appearances on Gikuyu television and radio stations.

'STOP CAMPAIGNING'
This time, however, he received more attention on Sunday evening when English language television stations aired his interview.

On social media, Jubilee Coalition supporters criticised him on the basis that he is not elected, is not a spokesman for any group, and is certainly not one of the well-known or influential politicians.

His party chairman, Mr Johnson Sakaja, said on Monday that Mr Njoroge “has no authority to speak on TNA or the Jubilee Coalition, and certainly not on matters that he is not well versed with”.

“Mr Njoroge must disclose on whose behalf he made those remarks, and must desist from being used by our political opponents,” said Mr Sakaja.

“For the avoidance of doubt, Mr Njoroge and his co-conspirators should be made aware that there is no ambiguity within Jubilee as to the 2017 and 2022 tickets for the presidency.”

Mr Njoroge was nominated to the Senate after he challenged in court the nomination of Ms Janet Kemunto, also of TNA, in 2013.

He told the Nation he would not be seeking any elective post in 2017, but would work his way to the party list for nomination via the same route, albeit with a small variation.

He, however, wants to be a running mate for someone in 2022.

Mr Njoroge insists he does not pretend to speak on behalf of the Kikuyu community “as we do not have a leader who speaks on behalf of Kikuyus”.

“I’m speaking on behalf of Kenyans. If the problem arises, it will affect all Kenyans. I’m in the Senate as a leader, remember that. Any senator is a leader, but remember, whether I have 10 or 20 people who support me, I should take care of them,” he said.

Mr Njoroge argued that Mr Ruto’s campaigns would only put the country on a permanent campaign mode. They would also, he said, amount to the Deputy President living on the strength of assumptions yet “we normally say that in politics, even one or two weeks is a very long time”.