Kibwana tells Kalonzo to abandon bid for State House

Makueni Governor Kivutha Kibwana. He does not want Kalonzo Musyoka to vie for the presidency. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Leaders in the region are currently on wait-and-see mode ahead of the anticipated referendum, which is widely expected to spawn new political alignments.
  • The region is divided on the import of Mr Musyoka’s declaration on working with President Kenyatta.

Makueni Governor Kivutha Kibwana has renewed his call on Wiper party leader Kalonzo Musyoka to drop his 2022 presidential ambition.

Governor Kibwana asked Mr Musyoka to consider supporting him or his Machakos counterpart Alfred Mutua in their State House bids.

In a scathing attack, he accused the Wiper party leader of frustrating development in the region through his loyalists.

“We have stood with Mr Musyoka since 1993. Every time he contests the presidency or supports a coalition, he loses. We shall dispatch a delegation of elders, women and youths to tell him our time to contest has come,” Prof Kibwana told a rally at Kawala village where he commissioned a borehole, triggering mixed reactions on social media.

Ukambani has been in a political lull for months after Prof Kibwana abandoned the Wiper chairmanship in a huff over a disagreement with Mr Musyoka.

Leaders in the region are currently on wait-and-see mode ahead of the anticipated referendum, which is widely expected to spawn new political alignments.

REBELLION

Although this is not the first time Mr Musyoka’s friends-turned-foes have declared that he has reached his political plateau, the escalating political temperatures come at a time when the Wiper leader has been reaching out to his former allies who had decamped to Jubilee as he packages himself as a presidential candidate.

Prof Kibwana’s criticism also comes when Mr Musyoka is juggling clashing 2022 ambitions of his supporters in an environment of increasing rebellion.

Dr Mutua has openly declared he will contest the top office and has already been moving across the country marketing his quick-fix mantra.

The recent unity of the three Ukambani governors in an economic bloc has caused jitters among Wiper loyalists who see the bloc as the vehicle the governors are using to abandon Mr Musyoka.

The rebellion has been intensifying since November last year when Mr Musyoka openly declared his willingness to be President Uhuru Kenyatta’s “errand boy”, a declaration widely seen as self-defeating for a leader styling himself as a possible presidential candidate.

STATE APPOINTMENTS

Six months down the line, which were punctuated by Mr Musyoka’s call for patience, the region is divided on the import of Mr Musyoka’s declaration on working with President Kenyatta.

Some Wiper MCAs have proudly been linking the party leader with the recent appointments of a handful of poll losers in the region to government agencies.

The latest presidential appointees from the region are former MPs Kalembe Ndile (Kibwezi), Kisoi Munyao (Mbooni), former Kitui Governor Julius Malombe and some losers in the last election.

They are Mwende Mwinzi (who lost Mwingi West parliamentary polls) and Wavinya Ndeti (loser in Machakos gubernatorial race).

Kitui Governor Charity Ngilu and Makueni Senator Mutula Kilonzo Junior have sneered at the appointees, saying their posts will be of little value to the community.

“Save for a few presidential appointments to small posts which are not substantive, this region has nothing to show for being part of the handshake. We want to celebrate a handshake of Konza City and Thwake Dam because these projects are bound to develop the community,” Mr Kilonzo Jnr said.