By Anderson Ojwang
Linda Mwananchi could have found itself in the wider political scheme, chase game and unknowingly walked into the political trap of immediate former President Uhuru Kenyatta.
The group, which was fast redefining the opposition and national politics but was least prepared for emerging political schemes and manipulations by other players, found itself infiltrated by Uhuru’s, the Government agents, and also the self-seekers.
The unity that was first witnessed in the group has since disappeared and been replaced with tension and suspicion.
A section of the broad-based Government, including President William Ruto, have accused Uhuru of being the sponsor of the Linda Mwananchi political activities in the country.
Sources at Linda Mwananchi intimated to the writer that Uhuru’s decision to work with one of the principals could have been one of the reasons for the fallout in the group.
Building the plot
Former President Uhuru’s key ally, Ms Pauline Njoroge, resigned from her post as Deputy Organising Secretary of Jubilee Party, and a member of the National Executive Committee (NEC) after 14 years.
Njoroge, in her statement then, said the move was meant to start a new political journey and joined the amorphous group.
Njoroge joined Uhuru’s The National Alliance Party (TNA) in 2012 as Communications Manager and has remained instrumental in the former President’s political agenda.
While Njoroge resigned from Jubilee Party, Uhuru was propping his former Internal Cabinet Secretary, Dr Fred Matiang’i, to take over the party and to be the presidential candidate.
Why would Uhuru let go of Njoroge to Linda Mwananchi, an amorphous group?
This question was loosely and tactfully answered by Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale in his recent rebuttal of Uhuru over his claims that he believed Raila won the 2022 presidential election.
Duale claimed Uhuru was using Raila to plant his brother as a prime minister in the new regime.
“Finally Uhuru Kenyatta, you didn’t want Raila. You brought BBI, the illegal constitutional amendment to create a powerful prime minister for your brother George Muhoho to become a prime minister and undermine Baba in the event Baba won,” he said.
In the Linda Mwananchi group, Njoroge has become more aligned with the former Orange Democratic Movement Secretary-General and the Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna. Sifuna has enjoyed a drastic rise in political profile to become a presidential candidate and could be a threat to the Mt Kenya presidential political plot.
It is not lost on observers that during the late Raila Amolo Odinga’s campaign for the African Union Commission Chairman’s seat, he appointed Njoroge, a key Uhuru ally, to the campaign team.
The faultline in the game plan
In her recent post, Njoroge gave her proposal for the opposition coalition leadership and may, through omission and commission, have ignored Siaya Governor James Orengo and Embakasi East MP Babu Owino, key founders of the group.
From her post, the Luo community, a principal player in the opposition, was relegated to the periphery.
She wrote, “Today, I want to share a personal view that I have been reflecting on for the past few weeks, regarding the structure of the emerging opposition coalition.
On that basis, I believe the principal-level leadership of the emerging coalition should comprise EDWIN SIFUNA, RIGATHI GACHAGUA, KALONZO MUSYOKA AND FRED MATIANG’I. Each commands a significant political constituency and brings to the table the electoral weight necessary to shape a viable national coalition,”
Njoroge wrote, “As the opposition builds a broad and inclusive coalition around the WANTAM movement, it must design a framework that encourages more political parties to join without creating a structure so heavy, that it complicates decision-making and weakens political agility,”.
She wrote that the coalition’s top decision-making organ must remain lean, strategic and capable of responding quickly to political developments. Its membership should be based not merely on ownership of a political party, but on demonstrable national influence and a solid regional support base.
“Therefore, the opposition does not need an endless table of principals. It needs an inclusive coalition supported by a lean, credible and effective centre of leadership,” she wrote.
Uhuru whipping the emotions
While in office, Uhuru said he knew the person he would hand over the mantle to in a peaceful transition and, indeed, he handed it to his deputy William Ruto in a peaceful ceremony at Kasarani International Stadium.
Recently, Uhuru returned with claims that he believed Raila won the 2022 presidential election.
“Raila won the election. I am convinced he won the presidential elections. I know that, we know, those who want to know, know the truth, you,” he said.
Uhuru said Azimio La Umoja won the majority of MPs, Senators and governors’ seats against President Ruto’s Kenya Kwanza.
“We had more MPs than the coalition. We had more senators and governors than the other coalition. How did we lose this? We know how it went and we do not want to go that route again.”
“Some people say we didn’t win. I believe Raila won the elections. They said they defeated me. Was it not Raila on the ballot? Uhuru was not on the ballot. Why are you dividing the country through the politics of division?” he said.
Old wounds
ODM leader Oburu Oginga, in a statement on Thursday, September 24, Oburu said the remarks confirmed what ODM had believed and maintained at the time, although the party eventually accepted the outcome after pursuing the available constitutional avenues.
“For ODM, this confirms what we believed and maintained at the time. However, after exhausting the constitutional avenues available to us, we chose to let the matter rest and move the country forward,” the statement read.
Oburu, however, questioned the role played by Uhuru and his administration in the transfer of power to President William Ruto, whom Uhuru says lost the election.
“We did so even as President Kenyatta and those around him looked the other way and handed the instruments of power over to William Ruto, whom the former President now says had lost the election,” the statement added.
Oburu said ODM had made significant political sacrifices during its relationship with Uhuru, particularly after the 2018 Handshake between Uhuru and Raila.
“We made those compromises in good faith. Now that President Kenyatta has chosen to exhume the deeply painful question of the 2022 election, he owes Kenyans some answers,” the statement further read.
Playing blindfold
Uhuru could be playing the blindfold to Linda Mwananchi as he plots the political future of Mt Kenya. So, for Orengo, Sifuna and Babu, they could have walked into Uhuru’s cooking pot and may find themselves in Raila’s 2022 footsteps.
