Legislators allied to the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) are currently holed up in a crisis meeting with Deputy President Wiliam Ruto over the Kiambaa by-election which is underway. Multiple sources say close to twenty MPs, both from Mt Kenya and Rift Valley backing DP Ruto are in attendance.
Today’s by-elections in Kiambaa constituency and Maguga ward, both in President Uhuru’s backyard of Kiambu will determine the fate of the ruling party which currently is facing stiff competition from DP William Ruto’s UDA. The two mini polls follow two successive losses by the ruling party in Juja and Bonchari.
UDA’s candidate John Njuguna Wanjiku has been packaged as a candidate for the restless Hustler Nation, a political outfit led by the DP, and is pushing for the haves and have nots narrative for 2022.
On the other hand, Kariri Njama of Jubilee Party, who ran on an Independent ticket in 2017 but became second after late MP Paul Koinange is determined to clinch the seat after receiving immense support from the ruling party and its MPs.
Kiambaa constituency has close to 100, 000 registered voters.
For the ruling party, anything short of a landslide victory inside President Uhuru’s bedroom will be a loss both because of the picture such an outcome will paint in terms of Uhuru Kenyatta’s grip of Mt Kenya and also Jubilee Party’s ever-dwindling support base ahead of 2022.
