Kenya Kwanza leaders slam Gachagua over ethnic politics, urge MPs to foster unity

Led by Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi, the leaders in a thin-veiled attack that was seemingly directed at Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua over his continued indulgence in the Mount Kenya leadership battle pleaded with MPs and government officials to follow President Ruto’s recent directive of desisting from tribal politics.

Mudavadi who spoke on Wednesday at a thanksgiving mass and fundraiser at St. John Paul II Chepterwai Girls High School in Mosop, Nandi County reiterated it was improper for elected leaders and Cabinet officials to differ with the head of state on the tribal issue.

According to Mudavadi, leaders in the Kenya Kwanza administration ought to speak in one voice with the commander-in-chief in order to move the country forward.

“As national leaders, let’s join the president in saying tuwe huru, tuwe watu wa kutembea na kushikana  tujue wenzetu, jirani zetu, ndugu zetu kutoka Lunga Lunga, Turkana na sehemeu mbalimbali…Tusiwe watu wa kufikiria kila mara mambo ya kikabila,” he said.

“The president and his cabinet are the first point of call in understanding the challenges that Kenya is facing. As Cabinet, we should be the last ones to contradict the direction the president is giving because we are privy to the challenges the country is are facing.”

President Ruto’a aide Farouk Kibet echoed Mudavadi’s sentiments as he slammed the DP over what he termed as ‘individual exaltation’ politics.

He said, “We are asking you to uphold unity; the unity of a country is more important than an individual who wants to exalt himself.”

National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wa chided in to castigate the second in command and MPs going against Ruto’s directive saying that tribal and regional politics was backward.

He instead advised leaders promoting regional politics to embrace, an ideology-based type of leadership instead of rallying Kenyans based on their tribal lines.

“Siasa ya kukusanya watu wa eneo moja, kuwaambia kujeni mnifuate, ili niende nikafanye biashara na nyinyi ya kuwauza ili mtembee…hio siasa imepitwa na wakati. Ata hawa watito wako hapa wataangalia wapime waone huyu ni kiongozi ambaye ako na maono yangu kama mwanafunzi. We want to unite all the people of Kenya,” Ichung’wa noted.

“If you want to lead Kenyans, have a plan like the president and an ideology that you can marshall and gunner the people to follow the ideology. But ideologies of division, ethnic balkanization and personality worship cults that is politics of the past  and has been overtaken by time and generations.”

The remarks by the leaders came amidst a back-and-forth between DP Gachagua and his boss over the Mt Kenya supremacy battles.

The DP has been in the past weeks advocating for the unity of the mountain, something that President Ruto said was ‘divisive and was bound to cripple the realisation of his government's ambitious promises.