After he was elected Chairman of the Council of Governors, it is of no doubt that Meru Governor Peter Munya was caught between a rock and a hard place in terms of projecting the future of his political career, which has hit deadly tidal waves from his backyard of Meru county.
The political revolutions in Meru are gaining momentum at high speed and could end up leaving Munya as a one term governor. Meanwhile residents await the self-declaration of Kiraitu Murungi, expected in March this year, that he will vie for the governor’s seat.
Despite having declared that he will support President Uhuru and his Deputy William Ruto for reelection in 2017, Munya seems to be cuddling a spiky pet that may soon turn against his career.
“We have declared to vote for the President and his deputy’s reelection but they should not abandon the promises they made. I will vie for the President seat in 2022 under the new party I will launch immediately after dissolution of APK. I will focus on the top seat for 2022 and not join Jubilee Party because its leader will be seeking the same position.”
Meru is undoubtedly a Jubilee stronghold. However, this would have changed if Munya supported another candidate for presidency in 2017. Such a move would throw the Jubilee Party’s arithmetic out of balance considering that Munya, who was elected with over 280,000 votes, still commands a big following in the county.
Munya’s fallout with Kiraitu
For Munya to keep his head above the political wave that is being caused by Kiraitu and promise himself a possibility of reelection in 2017, he has to gather his forces and resources in time and remain steadfast that Kiraitu’s immense political machinery will not over run him.
The two politicians formed the APK party and got elected, but Kiraitu has been accusing Munya of disengaging himself from the development manifesto they had for Meru.
The fallout was imminent from the time the governors moved to court challenging the formation of the county development boards.
“The vision of the Bus was valid and we wanted to make Meru County great, but the challenge was where other leaders were not able to be engaged in the implementation of the manifesto. We lack the County Development Forum, all we do is read in the media of projects being launched, we have become observers, bystanders and onlookers in our own county where we feel we have our own ideas that can transform the county. I am not involved”, said Kiraitu in an interview.
The two leaders’ differences escalated when Kiraitu opposed the proposed construction of 150 kms of roads by the county government using the Malysia Probase technology.
Munya has consolidated his team of MCAs led by leader of majority Ayub Bundi to fight for the project, whereas Kiraitu’s guard of MCAs lead by deputy speaker Gideon Kimathi is vigil to counter every movement that may be seen to propel the endorsement of the project.
Jubilee Party prospected line up
Munya’s hope of being re-elected could dim once Kiraitu vies for the governor seat and leaves his senatorial seat to Igembe South MP Mithika Linturi, as has been predicted.
Kiraitu, who is on record as the MP who achieved so much during his reign as MP for South Imenti with projects ranging from infrastructure, water, electricity and agriculture as compared to other MPs, seems to have bagged the support of the elected members of parliament.
The MPs have vowed to join Jubilee Party and abandoned Munya who has been having a rough relationship with them since they were elected.
MPs Florence Kajuju, Joseph M’Eruaki, Kubai Kiringo, Rahim Dawood, Mpuru Aburi, Kathuri Murungi, Mwiti Irea and David Karithi are on board the JP ship.
Munya is on record saying his new party will field candidates in the parliamentary, ward, gubernatorial and senatorial seats some being his government’s employees.
The water CEC Mary Mwiti is expected to run for the women representative seat, James Mutia the current chief of staff will be contesting in Igembe Central, M’Itha Mithiaru is being groomed for Igembe South, county secretary Julius Kimathi for Imenti Central and CEC for agriculture Janaro Guantai for the Imenti South seat among others.
It is certainly going to be a political battle to behold considering that Kiraitu, who is the coordinator of Jubilee Party, is well endowed with wealth and political experience garnered over time coupled with the handsome party resources from Uhuru and Ruto and he will for sure seek not to disappoint his masters and thus endeavour to deliver votes.
The ward representatives’ factor
Munya seems to have also backed his support from the 45 elected sitting members of the county assembly, who are loyal to him as a master who butters their bread.
The Meru County Assembly boasts of a majority of APK elected MCAs, led by the Abothuguchi Central member Ayub Bundi who is vocal of supporting Munya.
Nevertheless, the minority members led by Ruiri-Rwarera MCA Jackson Muriiki, have since being elected remained tomboys who support every motion or petition that comes from the executive, as long as funds and devolved programmes will be sent to their wards to massage their political interests.
However, this does not mean that the MCAs will remain loyal to this relationship when the campaigns kick off and they start seeking a second term.
A faction led by deputy speaker Gideon Kimathi and Alhaji Mwendia have however remained steadfast and vocal in endorsing Kiraitu Murungi as the governor.
These two are expected to sway a majority of the MCAs, especially those on the majority side which is APK, to shift their support to Kiraitu.
Other influential members in the bandwagon of Kiraitu are Julius Kiogora (Abothuguchi West) and Alpha Chabari (Igoji West) whose motions in the assembly have poked holes into Munya’s governance.
Case examples are matters of county governance among them management of
funds, budget and appropriations bills, skewed employment plans, stalled projects and lack of consultation of members before implementing multimillion shilling projects.
The uncovered gaps left if capitalized on by his opponents during the campaigns can leave a devastating impact on Munya’s ambitions, leaving him an angry lioness deprived of its prey by a vigil vulture.
Among the many queries being raised by the opponents are the purchase of sahiwal bulls meant to enhance breeds of beef cattle, the building of a multi storeyed office apartment in Angaine Estate where tenants have been forcefully evicted and the construction of Kinoru Stadium whose completion has been long overdue.
Other projects highlighted are the distribution of water pipes worth hundreds of millions of money which many say requires closer scrutiny and the construction of 225,000 litre tanks in all the wards which have not collected even quarter of their capacity in the just ended El-Niño rains.
Supremacy and business rivalry battles
Munya’s interest to vie for presidency in 2022 has been seen by political analysts from the region as a means of endearing himself to the electorate to win in the 2017 general elections against his rival Kiraitu Murungi.
Amongst some of the electorate, Kiraitu is a seasoned politician and has reached his retirement age and they believe Munya carries the baton of a promising future for Meru politically.
Others feel that Munya has hijacked the train to sell himself as a favourite candidate and to destabilize the senate leader of majority, Kithure Kindiki, in his endeavour to become William Ruto’s running mate in 2022.
According to nominated MCA Alhaji Mwendia, Munya’s plan to build the Meru Rising Tower is a plan to avenge competition on the Sh2.5 billion Greenwood park shopping mall in which Kiraitu has a big shareholding.
“I don’t know what is being built up here, I understand that there is a building being brought up under the Public Private Partnership, a multi storied building, is it captured in the County Integrated Development Plan because all the priorities of this county are captured in it or was it revised without the knowledge of the county assembly?” said Alhaji.
He added “We gave Sh200m for this project yet no member of the county assembly understands what it is. We did it because we wanted to have the budget signed for us, we committed public money to a project we know nothing about and we wonder how many shares are of the county government and who the other shareholders are”.
Sidebar: Meru voting patterns
During the 2013 general elections, Meru County placed itself on the map of the country as one of the most democratic communities in terms of political sobriety.
Despite voting for President Uhuru Kenyatta almost man to man, the county elected its MPs and Ward Representatives from a wide range of parties.
The Mt. Kenya East bound party, APK managed to have MPs Rahim Dawood (North Imenti) and Mwiti Irea (Imenti Central).
This happened despite initiatives to ensure the party gains roots in the county and beats the ‘UhuRuto’ led TNA and URP parties which managed to have MPs Kathuri Murungi (South Imenti), Joseph M’Eruaki (Igembe North), David Karithi (Tigania West) and Mithika Linturi (Igembe South).
However, the voting patterns shifted in Igembe Central and Tigania East constituencies where the APK and TNA tides were swept and MPs Kubai Kiringo and Mpuru Aburi were elected on an ODM ticket.
As was evident, party affairs, wealth and how resourceful a candidate was were not of the biggest consideration in Meru. Rather, personalities and how they sold their fitness to lead was considered as the Buuri MP Kinoti Gatobu, was elected as an independent candidate to be the youngest MP in the eleventh parliament.
In the coming general elections, many feel that the historical disunity of the Imenti, Tigania and Igembe will resurface under the alleged memorandum of understanding.
In the last general elections, the APK party scribbled an MOU which stated that for the three sub tribes to be effectively represented, the Imenti would produce a Senator, Tigania the Governor and Igembe a Women Representative.
However, that was tilted at the ballot where the Igembe community lacked a county seat and remained to settle with the deputy governor’s post. The women representative seat went to Florence Kajuju who is from Tiganja like the governor.
According to the URP Chairman in Meru County, James Mithika, such a memorandum would not be valid in the 2017 general elections because the Meru people have seen the light and cannot be hoodwinked to vote for a particular person.
“The Meru people are bright, they can see who they want and if he will serve their interests, the idea of saying there is an MOU of where people will be elected from is nonsense and can’t work in
today’s political arena”, he told the Weekend Star.
What Meru leaders are saying
Mpuru Aburi, MP for Tigania East
“If I will have to support Munya, I will need to be shown a project that he has done and completed in every constituency. The projects he has been commissioning among them markets, hospitals and roads were done by former President Kibaki’s regime. Kiraitu is a forgiving person but Munya has not even forgiven MPs who were not supporting his campaign. He has failed to speak with us completely”.
David Karithi, Tigania West
“I am still loyal to the MOU we agreed on last general elections, that Tigania retains the governor seat for ten years and Imenti produces Senator.
I will either support Kilemi Mwiria or Peter Munya from Tigania. Kiraitu’s move is wrong and will end up dividing the people of Meru, he is being selfish”.
Florence Kajuju, Women Representative Meru said,
“For two years there has been a budget allocation of Sh13 billion and the county government cannot state any development project nor account for it. We are demanding for a change because Munya has failed to serve the people of this county”.
Rahim Dawood MP, North Imenti
“For smooth running of Meru County, Kiraitu should vie for governor. For the last three years the county has gone sour. Munya should not waste his time vying because he will have lost as early as 10:00 am
on the voting day".
Joseph M'Eruaki, MP Igembe North
“The money allocated to the county is only used to pay for goons and engage in disputes. We want a united Meru and someone who can work with others rather than keep engaging in political disputes”.
Gideon Mwiti MP, Imenti Central
“Since when Munya was elected he has ignored and neglected other leader’s involvement into county affairs. He eventually changed to be like Iddi Amin. We can't access his office; his phone is busy when we call and I believe he blocked my contact. We can’t have such a leader in Meru County; we will use our resources to campaign for Kiraitu”.
Mithika Linturi MP, Igembe South
“I had warned other MPs before last election against electing Munya. Despite having an agreement that Nyambene retains the governor seat and Imenti settles for senator, we did not mean one will permanently live in leadership while misusing public funds. People should stop rumours that MPs are breaking an agreement. We did not plan it to remain even when one is not performing their mandate to electorates”.
Kiraitu Murungi, Senator Meru County
“Mpuru Aburi told me that when he was praying he saw me being the governor, I said its okay but because I was not there, I will traverse the county to get opinion from residents. We have worked hard to bring funds to this county. We don't hate him because of his blood but how many projects can we boast of here?”
Kinoti Gatobu, MP Buuri
“I have struggled so much for my people but there is a leader who does not want them to benefit. He has never brought funds for projects and some water pipes brought in my constituency were returned. I said let him go everywhere abusing me but assist my people, but I can’t take it anymore. He is stealing the hive and the bees which I had for my people to harvest honey. Just because he has been given a senior position, he has decided to take away what is meant for his people”.
Mwenda Mbijiwe, governor aspirant, Meru County
“The MPs are playing 'monkeynastic' politics that will not help the Meru people. Kiraitu has taken long to decide because he is being pushed by the MPs”.