Politics
Wetangula Ally Majimbo Kalasinga Switches Loyalty to DP Ruto
Ford Kenya leader and Bungoma Senator Moses Wetang’ula has suffered a setback after his ally declared support for Deputy President William Ruto’s 2022 presidential bid.
Kabuchai MP Joseph Majimbo Kalasinga joined the hustler bandwagon during the DP’s tour of Bungoma County last Friday.
“You supported me a lot and I must reciprocate that gesture,” Kalasinga told the DP while addressing residents at Chwele trading centre.
The MP’s about-turn has sparked speculation over whether he has the blessings of his party boss who has on numerous occasions denied links to Ruto.
The MP claimed to have brought greetings from Wetang’ula.
“Our beloved DP Ruto let me tell you that you and Bungoma are one thing and we are ready to work with you in your quest to empower the hustlers of this country,” he said.
But Wetangula’s aide Wafula Wakoli rubbished Majimbo’s claims saying Ford Kenya had no plans of working with UDA.
“Ford Kenya Party has mechanisms and structures to do things and the sentiments by Majimbo that he had been sent by our party leader Moses Wetang’ula to tell DP Ruto that as a party we are supporting his hustler narrative is total lies,” he said.
Wakoli said Ford Kenya was working with One Kenya Alliance.
“We want to say that those sentiments by Kalasinga were his own and not those of the Lion’s party,” he said.
He asked Ford Kenya members to rally behind Wetangula.
“Our party is firm under the able leadership of Wetangula and we are working with other leaders of One Kenya Alliance to take our people to State House come August next year,” he said.
Wakoli said that the party has MCA’s and other MPs who have not declared support for UDA.
Kalasinga joined five Jubilee Party MPs from Bungoma who accompanied the DP during the tour of the county.
Interestingly, the lawmaker was in the company of UDA’s Evans Kakai who came second after garnering 6,455 votes in the by-election.
Kalasinga garnered 19,274 votes to trounce seven candidates in the March 4 by-election. The by-election was occasioned by the death of former MP James Mukwe who was an ally of Ruto.
This comes even as pundits opine that the sibling rivalry within Ford Kenya seems to be a blessing in disguise for Ruto’s UDA party.
Politicians allied to the DP in Bungoma have been taking advantage of cracks in Ford Kenya to solidify his support base.
Ford Kenya has split down the middle, with the Bungoma Senator leading one faction, while the other wing is led by MPs Wafula Wamunyinyi (Kanduyi) and Eseli Simiyu (Tongaren).
The party split following a coup attempt where Wamunyinyi declared himself the party leader.
However, Wetang’ula obtained court orders stopping his removal, pending hearing and determination of the matter.
The party’s National Executive Committee had accused the senator of gross misconduct and failing to champion the unity of members.
The also accused Wetang’ula of failure to reconcile warring members.
The senator has been working to restore sanity in the party amid ongoing political realignments ahead of next year’s polls.
Deputy President William Ruto has vowed to that his government if given the mandate to lead the country in the August 9 polls will deal with hands-on with ‘State capture.’
According to the Presidential candidate, state policies are being used to facilitate the theft of public funds as corruption had been absorbed into government.
DP William Ruto made these calims while speaking to the Reuters in an interview.
“We have no intention of prosecuting President Uhuru Kenyatta, but we have every intention of dealing with State capture. It cannot be business as usual,” the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) presidential candidate said.
DP Ruto’s running mate, Rigathi Gachagua also alluded to said State capture, saying those involved will be dealt with should Kenya Kwanza form the next government.
“We will not go after individuals. We will go after all those in state capture and conflict of interest,” Gachagua said in a joint media broadcast.
The Mathira MP vaguely explained that it was “people in power who have used or are using their offices to use up public resources to their advantage,” when asked who or what State capture was.
The DP has also revealed plans of bringing to end the Kenya’s national debt, which currently stands at Sh9 trillion, in an exclusive interview with international media.
He said the country has the capacity to handle the debt situation, and that they as Kenya Kwanza have mapped out plans of how to go about it, should they win.
“We will put the brakes on more borrowing. It may not come to zero but we will begin the journey to slow down on more borrowing,” the DP said.
Campaigns hit fever pitch and candidates scramble for airtime to sell their agendas with just eighteen (18) days left as Kenya will soon be headed to the General Election.
Sonko has increased the intense in the race for Mombasa county which already has aspirants from the UDA and ODM parties.
Sonko has finally been cleared by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to contest for the Mombasa gubernatorial seat.
On Thursday, July 14 2022, Sonko in the accompany of his supporters was given the green light.
The former Nairobi governor was invited by the IEBC to submit his letter for clearance as per a letter addressed to him earlier.
“The venue will be the IEBC Mombasa County offices and you are expected to submit your papers on July 14, 2022 between 2pm and 4pm,” Swalha Ibrahim the returning officer said.
The letter to Sonko came after a high court ruled that the politician doesn’t be disqualified from vying for governor noting that the governor was eligible to run for office. The commission said it could not head to the courts to appeal the decision as time could not allow.
Addressing the media after the clearance, Sonko said his candidature seeks to solve the problems of the people in the Coastal city and that he was bringing a new awakening in the city.
Sonko said he was not worried about the short time time line he has to undertake the campaigns in the large city noting that he was drawing a campaign schedule to begin immediately.
“We must campaign, we have few days but we will utilize them properly. We can do two days per constituency or a day per constituency,” Sonko noted.
Funding Partnerships and Grants Manager at Northern Rangelands Trust
Legal Counsel at Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund (AECF)
