TNA nominee for the Gatundu South parliamentary seat Moses
Kuria could be facing a political challenge of his lifetime in what analysts
now term as a two-horse race.
Contrary to perceptions that
clinching a TNA ticket for the by-election was as good as being elected, the
reality is now sinking on Kuria who must now burn the midnight oil to counter
his only opponent Kiarie Kamere, who was cleared by the IEBC to fly the New
Democrats Party flag. The reality is that Kuria’s quest for the seat will not
be a walk in park. However, the TNA candidate is the frontrunner.
Kuria’s trouble began immediately
after he was declared the winner in a controversial party nomination exercise
which was allegedly marred with claims of rigging and other election
malpractices. The losers, however, rejected the results and the matter was
referred to the party’s tribunal which, however, upheld Kuria’s nomination.
Initially, Kuria had hoped to run on
the back of the party’s popularity in the constituency but was forced to run
back to the drawing board after he realised that the candidates he defeated in
the by-election and who did not concede defeat were slowly regrouping to
support Kamere.
During the nominations, Kuria
garnered 8,343 votes ahead of Wanjiku who got 6,685; Kamere garnered 2,353
while former civic leader, John Karing’u got 1,811.
The architect of the anti-Kuria
campaigns is the widow of the immediate former MP Joseph Ngugi. Joyce
Wanjiku, the widow, came second in the party controversial primaries. At first,
she had plotted to decamp from TNA to contest on URP ticket but things did not
work out for her. She was forced by circumstances to swallow her pride but to
remain in TNA.
Sources say it was Kuria and top TNA
officials who pulled a fast one on her by asking William Ruto’s URP not to
clear her to run on their party’s ticket. Sources say they held a secret
meeting with URP secretary general Fred Muteti. It was after the meeting that
Muteti made a press release where he denied reports that the widow had been
cleared to run on URP ticket.
The statement read in part: “Joyce
Ngugi is not a member of URP as of this morning. I have checked my records and
consulted with the Registrar of Political Parties and found out that she is
still a member of TNA and not a member of URP. I therefore urge Ms Joyce Ngugi
to join hands with Moses Kuria and campaign together towards the success of
winning the seat by the Jubilee coalition in the upcoming by-election”.
Joyce did not, however, take the
announcement lightly as she claims to have been assured by the same URP
operatives that she would be cleared to run against Kuria. It was after
that shocking statement that she came up with her plan B which was to lobby all
the candidates who vied against Kuria in the party nominations to gang up and
support Kamere.
Already, she has gone public and is
campaigning for Kamere and she has also managed to bring on board John
Karing’u, who came a distant fourth, and have resolved to back Kamere.
Analysts say Kuria and his campaign
team can only ignore the new team behind Kamere at his own peril. As campaigns
hot up, it is merging that Kamere has been pulling huge crowds which is
beginning to give Kuria sleepless nights. Kuria’s major problem is that tycoons
from the area have never bothered to campaign for him. However, the president
has a soft spot for him.
There have been whispers that Uhuru
was under pressure to have Joyce to inherit her late husband’s seat but he did
not come out openly to show she was his preferred candidate. The fear in
Kuria’s camp is that Kamere is relatively influential having contested last
year where he finished a close second.
Those who have been keenly following
Gatundu South politics and the emerging realignments now say that the
development will definitely make it tough for Kuria to get to parliament since
Wanjiku and Kamere are no ordinarily players in the race.
The two-horse race theory could as
well be the toughest ever fought in Gatundu South. Voters opposed to Kuria
claim he is an ivory tower politician who does not know the plethora of
problems facing the local Gatundu residents.
Literally, Uhuru now has the key to
decide who will be the winner in the August 7 by-election.
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