‘Rigathi Gachagua wanted to attend Limuru III’ – Jeremiah Kioni
Jubilee Party Secretary-General Jeremiah Kioni says Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua wanted to attend the Limuru III meeting organised by Mt Kenya politicians.
The former Ndaragua MP, speaking to a local TV station, termed the Limuru III meeting a rare opportunity created for the people from the mountain to speak out.
"Rigathi Gachagua was very desirous to come to Limuru III, just like Moses Kuria and all these other people in UDA. Limuru III was a rare opportunity that we created for the people from the mountain to speak out. An opportunity that has not been afforded to them since we voted. You can now see we are reading from the same page," Kioni said.
Kioni however denied reports that the meeting was sponsored by Gachagua, who has seemingly fallen out with President William Ruto. Gachagua in the recent past has been advancing the Mt Kenya agenda.
"He (Gachagua) didn't. Even now I'm struggling with some of the bills we incurred," Kioni added.
During the Limuru III meeting, the politicians present launched a political coalition dubbed Haki Coalition aimed at vouching for the "one man, one vote, one shilling" revenue-sharing formula, a formula also being pushed by Gachagua. Former President Uhuru Kenyatta was appointed the leader of the coalition.
Kioni says the leaders who signed the coalition will approach Kenyatta with the resolutions of the meeting and ask him to accept the nomination officially.
"We did not have Uhuru Kenyatta as the leader of the Haki coalition, but he will be above those of us who will be in active politics, those of us who believe in the cultural formations of the community. We agreed to too many things that involved the former president. In the Mount Kenya region, we have agreed to come under an umbrella; all the political parties will be under one umbrella led by Uhuru Kenyatta," Kioni said.
"We will go as a group of the people who organised Limuru III and present our resolutions to him."
During the Limuru III meeting, the leaders present agreed to work towards uniting the region along the three thematic areas; which include political, social and economic.
It was also agreed that the region would pursue its interests collectively, including the push for one man, one vote, one shilling formula for sharing national resources.
The leaders say the Haki Coalition is aimed at safeguarding the Mt Kenya interests and speaking in one voice.
Kioni on Uhuru's presence in politics
Kioni also told off Kenya Kwanza politicians calling on President Uhuru Kenyatta to retire from active politics, saying he is not obliged by the Constitution to do so.
"He never called upon (Mwai) Kibaki to move away from politics nor did he tell Moi to leave politics. We cannot afford this double standard," Kioni said.
