Former First Lady Mama Ngina Kenyatta yesterday broke her silence on the succession of her son, President Uhuru Kenyatta urging Mt Kenya region to back opposition leader Raila Odinga.
Speaking at a burial of her cousin in Gatundu South, Kiambu county, Mama Ngina said the President means well for the community and there is no way he can lead them into a ditch.
“Let us love each other, this is our country, let us drive things forward. Let us know where we are going, there is no way your leader can mislead you. Let me tell you the person who sits at the stump of a tree knows what the ants eat,” Mama Ngina said.
Mama Ngina stated ostensibly referring to Deputy President William Ruto, that Kenyatta was not to blame for the rift between the two.
She highlighted the two were working well until the DP abdicated his duties and focused on his presidential ambitions.
Mama Ngina urged Kenyans to stick to good morals and resist leaders who are abusive.
“Depending on how one is raised in his or her home even when they come out in public, they cannot go out insulting others. I want to tell those who are engaging in insults that we will leave them like that if at all they were taught insults while growing up,” she said.
It was, however, a clear indication that the ties that bind Kenyatta and Ruto had severed.
While Ruto remained calm and measured in his remarks during his tour of Gatundu South last Friday, his allies, including area MP Moses Kuria, used the occasion to launch a stinging attack on the President for supporting Raila claiming this violates an oath taken by Gatundu elders in 1969.
“The President may bring a curse to his family by deciding to go against the oath in which the elders vowed never to support or vote for an uncircumcised man,” said Kuria in a statement that attracted condemnation in social media platforms.
Kuria, who is the Chama Cha Kazi leader and an aspirant for the Kiambu governorship, has since attempted to beat a retreat through his Facebook page in which he says his critics should not crucify him over the remarks.
“For the record I was not yet born in 1969. However, I keep receiving accounts from people who partook in the #IchaweriOath wondering what to do. Capt. Kung’u Muigai raised the same issue recently and he didn’t get the condemnation I am getting,” he said.
In Murang’a, Ruto noted that Kenyatta had wrongly judged him as incapable of protecting his interests while outside government.
“We have been through many challenges together including facing the International Criminal Court (ICC) with him…. We faced Raila Odinga’s opposition together in 2002, 2013 and twice in 2017.
I also consider myself to be his friend. It was a mistake to alienate me from Odinga,” he said
