The planned Sagana III meeting which is set to rally Mt Kenya region behind Azimio La Umoja coalition has sent shockwaves among Mt Kenya United Democratic Alliance (UDA) brigade that is yet to digest what will be their fate after the meeting.
Sources have intimated to News Today the much-anticipated meeting which will be chaired by President Uhuru Kenyatta is likely to ruin political careers of those opposed to the direction he wants the region to take in the August 9 polls.
This meeting would help the President galvanise his support base as the August polls enter the crucial stage of party primaries as coalitions take shape. It is understood that only leaders seen to be loyal to the president will attend the meeting.
Already panic has gripped Mt Kenya UDA-allied MPs after Kieni MP Kanini Kega recently revealed that some of them have been sending overtures to the president to reconcile with his estranged deputy despite the tight timelines as the country goes to the polls in less than six months.
“Some of them still believe that President Kenyatta can reconcile with his deputy in this day and age. However, I want to be categorical that the two can never work together again,” Kega said in an interview with one of the dailies.
So tense is the situation, sources say Deputy President William Ruto was forced to cut short his campaign programme to go and see Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria who is hospitalized in Dubai. The visit according to those close to the DP was no ordinary visit going by the secretive manner it was conducted.
“The Sagana meeting is likely to reverse the gains made by UDA that is why the DP is not leaving anything to chance having campaigned together with his boss in 2013 and 2017. He knows the kind of damage he can do. That is why he feels he needs Kuria who resonates well with Mt Kenya residents,” said UDA-allied MP from Kiambu.
Interior Permanent Secretary Karanja Kibicho statement in Kirinyaga on Saturday further spoke volumes about what awaits UDA proponents in the Mt Kenya region.
“The direction we shall follow is the one guided by our President Uhuru Kenyatta and that is the way to go as a region. At the moment we are reading body language and we know where our president wants us to go” Kibicho said.
PS Kibicho who has opted to steer clear of Kirinyaga politics and has instead vowed to support President Uhuru Kenyatta’s transition as the country goes to the polls on August 9.
According to the PS the president has initiated so many flagship projects which require somebody of high moral standing who can be able to complete them within the set timelines when the president exits office later this year.
“If you have a look at the development projects he has initiated in Kirinyaga alone then you need to appreciate he loves our people. Some of the projects that have been done in this area we have never seen them since independence,”
Kibicho said President Kenyatta still remains Mt Kenya kingpin and those making noise will not change the state of affairs.
The Sagana III meeting will bring together all elected leaders from all the Mt Kenya counties and those in the diaspora. The aim is to craft a strategy to counter the narrative that is being propagated by Deputy President William Ruto’s allies that President Kenyatta has ignored the region.
The president is also set to address the ongoing propaganda that the war on corruption has been targeting businessmen from Mt Kenya region.
The News Today has established that many pro-UDA MPs from the region are not sitting pretty owing to the region’s history of taking one direction in past elections. According to those who spoke to News Today in confidence this is the reason they have prioritized the attacks against the president in their latest public rallies across the country.
“The issue of branding Raila as a government project is our only selling point at the moment since we are now certain the president is determined to support him,” said one of the MPs.
Those who support DP Ruto include Kikuyu MP Kimani Ichung’wa, his Gatundu South counterpart Moses Kuria, Rigathi Gachagua (Mathira), Alice Wahome (Kandara) and Senators Susan Kihika(Nakuru) and Mithika Linturi(Meru) among others.
This would be the first time the President will be stepping out forcefully to rally the region behind Azimio La Umoja Presidential hopeful Raila Odinga and ward off Deputy President Ruto’s onslaught and fortify his Mt Kenya backyard.
