On Monday, disgruntled MPs led by Starehe’s Maina Kamanda confronted Ruto at his office and demanded to know why he was endorsing an “outsider” for governor against ODM’s Evans Kidero.
They accused the DP of engineering the move by four Mt Kenya MPs to endorse Wamalwa as Jubilee’s candidate for Nairobi governorship in 2017.
Ruto has publicly said the capital city cannot be headed by a governor who is not from the country’s ruling coalition.
The MPs who announced support for Wamalwa at a church in Kiambu on Sunday are Ferdinand Waititu (Kabete), Jude Njomo (Kiambu, Kanini Kega (Kieni) and Mpuru Aburi (Tigania East).
But the city MPs told Ruto they believed he was behind the pronouncement. They complained he was antagonising other candidates by pushing central MPs to publicly declare Wamalwa the party’s preferred candidate.
“He was told that if this continues, the Kikuyus in Nairobi will consider their position, especially after next elections. He was also reminded that it is he who will need the community after the 2017 elections and not the other way round,” a politician present at the meeting said.
Ruto reportedly denied having engineered the endorsement of Wamalwa, saying some people were just throwing around his name.
The city Jubilee MPs are said to have later called President Uhuru, complaining of interference in city political affairs. The President, according to insiders, called Ruto and requested he go slow on city politics.
Former Cabinet ministers Musikari Kombo and Fred Gumo are the people behind the push for Wamalwa to get the Jubilee ticket for Nairobi governor.
Kombo reportedly tried to sell the idea to Uhuru when he and Wamalwa accompanied the President to Israel for a three-day state visit in February. The President was noncommittal.
Once they decided to dissolve New Ford Kenya and merge with the yet-to-be-launched Jubilee Party, Kombo and Wamalwa then asked in return that Eugene be given a direct Jubilee ticket for the Nairobi governor’s office.
Yesterday Wamalwa, former New Ford Kenya leader, did not confirm or deny his interest in the office.
“We will deal with that matter at the right time. For now, I’m focused on getting Kenyan water,” Wamalwa told the Star.
[B]On Monday, MPs Kamanda, John Njoroge (Kasarani), Benson Mutura (Makadara) and James Gakuya (Embakasi) rebuked their Central Kenya colleagues, telling them to stop “political brokerage”.
http://www.the-star.co.ke/news/2016/08/03/angry-mps-meet-ruto-over-eugene-bid-for-governor_c1397241 [/B]