‘Which office is that?’ DP Kindiki rubbishes Mt. Kenya kingpin talks

Deputy President Prof. Kithure Kindiki has now seemingly distanced himself from talks on who the reigning kingpin of Mt. Kenya region politics actually is.

This comes after Kindiki was only less than two months ago sworn in as the country’s second-in-command, replacing Rigathi Gachagua who many viewed as a potential contender for the throne of Mt. Kenya political supremo.

The position has also previously been linked to former President Uhuru Kenyatta, who however recently came out to state that he no longer has the time nor energy for politicking.

DP Kindiki, speaking during a media roundtable interview at his Karen residence on Thursday evening, dismissed the position as non-existent in the grand scheme of government, asserting that his only interest is to serve Kenyans in the legally mandated office that he currently occupies.

Upon being asked by K24 news anchor Joel Chacha on whether he now stands as the undisputed Mt. Kenya, Prof. Kindiki simply responded with: “Which office is that?”

The Deputy President went ahead to address the matter of being endorsed by a section of Members of Parliament from the Central region as their link to the Executive, when he was still serving as Interior Cabinet Secretary and Gachagua as DP.

According to Kindiki, the MPs were speaking out of frustration due to strained relationships with Gachagua then, hence he saw no issue with their endorsement of him as their pointman since he sat in Cabinet where decisions are made.

He however went ahead to note that following his ascension to the office of Deputy President, he will now be addressing concerns from all over the country, and not just the region from where he comes alone.

“To the best of my recollection, those MPs had expressed frustrations in getting their constituency development agenda through to government because of the break down of relationship they had with the former occupier of this office, and therefore they asked me whether I could convey their needs to the President. And because I was a member of the Cabinet I saw no problem with that. But whether or not they will continue asking me to convey their messages is upto them to decide,” he said.

“That region, like other regions in Kenya, has very many elected leaders. The office I occupy now as DP is an office of the Republic, unlike other leaders, for example, who have a sub-national mandate. Therefore, the way I see it, is that the people from the region where I was born and raised have a right just like the people from the Coast, Western, Nyanza, Rift Valley, North Eastern to use this office to channel their needs and interest to the government. The only thing I don’t understand is this thing about the kingpin…I don’t understand it because there is no office like that.”