Inside Politics

Don’t fix me again, Kalonzo tells Wanjigi over State House race

Monday, November 29th, 2021 07:00 | By
Wiper party leader Kalonzo Musyoka
Wiper party leader Kalonzo Musyoka. PHOTO/Courtesy

Wiper party leader Kalonzo Musyoka yesterday appealed to billionaire businessman Jimi Wanjigi not to ‘fix him politically’ in the 2022 State House race.

Kalonzo, who deputised Opposition leader Raila Odinga in the 2017 and 2013 presidential elections, narrated how Wanjigi, who has declared interest in the presidency on an Orange party ticket, tactfully lured him into a political trap on the two occasions, making him set aside his own ambitions.

The two shared a forum during a church service in AIC Daystar in Mavoko, Machakos county yesterday.

Kalonzo narrated that in 2013, he suffered political humiliation in the hands of Wanjigi, who was then backing President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto.

“I remember we were in a meeting when Wanjigi said that due to the cases Uhuru and Ruto were facing at the International Criminal Court, I should# drop my ambition and would be made Speaker of the National Assembly,” Kalonzo narrated.

Kalonzo, who was the Vice-President under retired President Mwai Kibaki at the time, turned down Wanjigi’s overtures and in anger, bolted out of the Uhuruto camp.

He would then join forces with Raila and Ford Kenya leader Moses Wetangula under the Coalition for Reforms and Democracy, on whose ticket the former contested the presidency in 2013.

Addressing the congregants, Kalonzo said come 2017, the billionaire businessman again emerged and convinced him to support
Raila in 2017.

Wanjigi had then fallen out with the Uhuruto camp, Kalonzo explained.

The Wiper leader told the congregation that it is Wanjigi, who convinced him that Raila was making his final stab at the presidency in a hatched scheme that would see him become presidential candidate in 2017.

Responding, Wanjigi urged Kalonzo not to support Raila this time round, saying it would be an act of political conman ship.

“My friend Kalonzo, we have been in this game for a long time. Raila vowed that he was firing his final bullet in 2017, and you agreed to support him.

“I do not know whether he shot or not, but 2022 should be about another person and not about him any more,” said Wanjigi.

The presidential aspirant observed that the Ukambani voting block commands sizable votes that cannot be ignored.

He told Kalonzo that this time round, they should join forces as like-minded
individuals and take the country’s leadership.

Wanjigi termed the perception that Mt Kenya region was divided as a creation of the media, maintaining that the vote-rich region was politically
united and was likely to shock many.

He argued that the region knows the taste of power and there was no way it could be easily let go.

Wanjigi exuded confidence that he will beat Raila in the ODM party nominations to fly the party’s presidential flag.

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