You have betrayed us, Central Kenya leaders dismiss Ruto-Raila handshake

As President William Ruto sealed a political pact with his former nemesis Raila Odinga, leaders in Central Kenya termed the move as betrayal.

The move has set the stage for political realignments with questions being asked about Ruto’s recent Cabinet appointees from the region and whether they will have any impact in the run-up to the 2027 election.

At a time when the Mountain region has largely ditched the UDA Party, it remains to be seen if the appointment of politicians William Kabogo, Mutahi Kagwe and Lee Kinyanjui into the Cabinet early this year help tilt the balance in Ruto’s favour.

The dishing out of these positions was seen as an attempt by Ruto to appease the Kikuyu community after he had his deputy Rigathi Gachagua impeached last year and replaced with Kithure Kindiki, who is also from the Mt Kenya region.

Political pundits and commentators feel that the Mountain is likely to follow the route that former Deputy President will take ahead of the next elections and not the wishes of the President’s men from the region.

Following Raila’s failure to capture the Africa Union Commission chairmanship, a number of politicians from the Mountain including Gachagua had made an appeal to the ODM leader to join the opposition and help build a united front against Ruto come 2027.

Jeremiah Kioni, the Jubilee Party Secretary General, who is among those who reached out to Raila in a bid to have him team up with them in the Azimio la Umoja coalition, says the pact with Ruto was an attempt to give the latter a new political lifeline.

“The political marriage between the two is an attempt by Ruto to his redeem his diminishing support by Kenyans after realizing how unpopular he has become,” says Kioni.

However, the Jubilee Party honcho and close ally of retired President Uhuru Kenyatta dismissed the recently announced Ruto-Raila political pact saying it will not change the resolve by Kenyans to kick out the current administration.

“While Raila has been sending mixed and confused signals about their political pact, it will not help endear the President to Kenyans who are yearning for a change in the country’s leadership,” stated Kioni, former Ndaragwa MP.

Raila, while attending a funeral service for Lewis Kimani Waiyaki in Uthiru area in Kiambu on Tuesday, said he has not abandoned Kenyans to follow Ruto, maintaining instead it is the latter who is after him.

“People are complaining that Raila has gone to Ruto and left us. I have not gone to him, he is the one who came to me,” said the ODM leader, insisting that his stand remains unchanged and would continue to fight for the rights of all Kenyans.

Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka, another key member of the Azimio coalition, is also on record dismissing Ruto’s co-operation with Raila as irrelevant and one with no impact on the country’s political scene.

“By agreeing to join Ruto in his government, Raila can only be described as a betrayer of the people,” said Kalonzo, vowing to take charge of the opposition along with other coalition leaders like DAP-Kenya’s Eugene Wamalwa, Kioni, Gachagua and other like-minded leaders.

He also trashes reports circulating in social media platforms suggesting he was planning to join Ruto after purportedly holding a meeting with him at State House.

Murang’a Senator Joe Nyutu, another staunch supporter of the former DP, also accuses the President of not only betraying people from the Mountain who helped put him into power, but also persecuting leaders from the region.

“I want to ask the President to tell us what the people of Central Kenya did to him other than voting him to power such that he had to react by persecuting leaders from the area,” Nyutu says noting that key persons like Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro and other legislators were forced out of parliamentary leadership positions.

Former Laikipia Woman Rep Cate Waruguru, a political ally of Gachagua, also accuses the President of betraying the trust of the Mt Kenya region and disregarding the interests of those who overwhelmingly voted for him in the last general election.

She maintained that the President, having failed to deliver on the pledges he made to Mt Kenya, is now resorting to desperate measures to maintain his grip on power, even if it meant forging ties with the very person he vehemently opposed during the election campaign.

“The region had played a critical role in propelling Ruto to victory in 2022 and it is now being sidelined in a calculated political move that ignored the sacrifices made by Mt Kenya voters,

“The so-called Ruto-Raila political marriage is not only illegitimate, but also an outright betrayal of the people who stood firmly behind this administration, believing in the promises that were made to us,” said Waruguru .

She asserted: “Ruto has clearly demonstrated that he is overwhelmed by the weighty issue of running this country, and instead of addressing the challenges facing Kenyans, he has now chosen to seek solace in the company of Raila whom he once accused of being the biggest obstacle to progress.”

Soon after Kabogo was appointed Cabinet Secretary for ICT and the Digital Economy, he pledged to help build a positive relation between the Kenya Kwanza administration and the people of Central Kenya.

He besieged people from the Mountain region to tone down their hostility towards President William Ruto, while acknowledging there is a disconnect between the government and the locals.

Speaking in Ruiru, Kiambu County, Kabogo expressed his displeasure at growing hostility towards the President where locals have severally refused to listen to his speeches.

Instead, the former Kiambu Governor pleaded with the region to embrace President Ruto and his government for the sake of development, noting that the bad blood may lead to delays in implementation of projects.

“This attitude where certain government officials are shouted down is not good for the welfare of the region. When I come to you and you shout at me or throw stones, am I likely to come back? We are being confused by too much politicking in Mt Kenya which is meaningless,

“We must be cognizant of the fact that the government is there to serve us and we must allow it to serve us. If you were the President and you hear that when your name was mentioned in a certain place and people shouted, would you take development there?” Kabogo posed.