Former Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mwangi Kiunjuri, seeking Lakipia East parliamentary seat now says he will ditch the electorate for a seat in cabinet.
“If I clinch this seat and Dr Ruto opts to appoint me to represent my people at a top level, I will have to resign, similar to what CS Charles Keter and Joseph Nkaissery did,” Kiunjuri told residents in Matanya village, Laikipia East, during a football tournament funded by TSP.
Formerly Tangatanga aligned member allied to Deputy President William Ruto that has morphed to United Democratic Alliance (UDA) began a spirited campaign to reclaim the parliamentary seat he previously held for 15 years.
“I am vying for the Laikipia East parliamentary seat so that I can represent my people at the country’s top decision table. My track record is still visible (after) my 15 years’ tenure,” the TSP leader said in Manyatta.
Laikipia Woman Representative Catherine Waruguru, incumbent MP Amin Deddy Mohamed and former MP Mutahi Kimaru will battle it out for the UDA party ticket before facing Kiunjuri.
Kiunjuri had been touted as a possible Ruto’s running mate and then DP’s key point man in Mt Kenya region, now dumped after making coalition demands with UDA, Kiunjuri is seeking to reinvent himself having faded away from the national politics.
The Tangatanga outfit led by Ruto openly championed Ruto’s succession politics defying President Uhuru Kenyatta’s call for order and stoppage to early campaigns in order to deliver government agenda.
Before he was picked from the political cold and shoved up to the national limelight after being appointed to the cabinet by President Uhuru Kenyatta, Service Party (TSP) leader unsuccessfully contested for Laikipia governorship a seat he has considered to be above his weight considering his waning political persuasion in the region.
