Kabete by-election candidate Ferdinand Waititu prepares to address Juja Town residents after President Kenyatta gave him the chance to speak. PHOTO | RAPHAEL NJOROGE | NATION MEDIA GROUP
MPs and ward representatives opposed to Mr Kabogo’s leadership believe Mr Waititu can tame the governor, whom they accuse of chest-thumping and belittling them.
The leaders say the combative politician, who has said he will seek to oust Mr Kabogo in the 2017 General Election, as a “saviour” and believe he will tame the governor’s “arrogance”.
Kikuyu MP Kimani Ichungwa, who is a strong critic of the county leadership, says Mr Waititu will make a good match for Mr Kabogo, and will be “a plus in their fight for accountability and transparency”.
“Those who have been calling me an inexperienced and test-tube politician have now found the father of politics,” says Mr Ichungwa.
He says the effect of Mr Waititu’s entry into the county politics is already being felt.
“He is now doing cosmetic and belated attempts to hoodwink the electorate that he is working by dishing out jobs in rallies, awarding bursaries and officiating old projects,” says the MP of Mr Kabogo.
PLOT TO IMPEACH
The Rev Ezbon Ngaruiya, the chairman of Kenya Anglican Men Association in Mount Kenya South, says county leaders will hang on Mr Waititu to fight the “bull”.
“County leaders who tried to tame the governor will team up with Waititu, who matches Kabogo,” he says.
The county has 13 MPs and the governor only enjoys a cordial relationship with Woman Representative Anna Nyokabi and Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria, while Githunguri legislator Njoroge Baiya has kept off the region’s politics.
At the county assembly, nearly half of the ward representatives are opposed to the governor.
Last November, the MCAs hatched a plot to impeach him, accusing him of gross misconduct and abuse of office.
Ngewa MCA Karungo wa Thang’wa says Mr Waititu is a plus in the anti-Kabogo team, saying he has what it takes to take the bull by the horns.
“Waititu will be a father figure, which we have lacked in Kiambu politics. He has the experience, which we have been told we do not have,” Mr Than’gwa says.
Ndumberi MCA Ngugi Uiru says Mr Waititu’s entry will push the governor to be accountable for fear of losing support.
“The governor will have to tone down and try to relate well with MCAs because if he does not, he will lose the support of the elected MCAs, some who left him a long time ago for Waititu,” he says.
'NOT AFRAID'
For his part, Mr Waititu argues that the county leadership is afraid of him, adding that pro-Kabogo MCAs campaigned against his candidature prior to the JAP primaries.
“You know I am not afraid of anything or anyone and I will deal with him until transparency and accountability prevails,” he said during a rally in Kabete last Sunday.
The former Embakasi MP has faulted the county leadership, saying its agenda does not reflect the will of the people
But while speaking at two separate functions in Ruiru and Gatundu North on Friday and Saturday, Mr Kabogo described Mr Waititu’s nomination as an embarrassment because he is an “outsider” in the county.
He played down claims that Mr Waititu’s nomination to vie for the Kabete seat has sent shivers in his camp. The flamboyant politician says he is not moved by Mr Waititu’s candidacy.
“If you go hunting in the forest and you say rats are afraid, then it is you who is afraid. He (Waititu) should name those panicking because I am not one of them. I do not want to make Waititu a subject because to me he is not an issue at all,” he said.
County Assembly Majority Leader Patrick Chege described Mr Waititu as a political loser, saying he failed to clinch the Nairobi governor seat yet Senator Mike Sonko and Woman Representative Rachael Shebesh, who vied under the same party, were voted in overwhelmingly.
“To the governor. he is still in incubation as far as politics is concerned because the highest he has gone is becoming an MP an that is why the likes of Ichungwa regard him as their baba yao (their father),” said Mr Chege.
No comments:
Post a Comment