NAIROBI, Kenya, Sep 9 – Kirinyanga Governor Anne Waiguru left tongues wagging Thursday when she was seen in the company of Musalia Mudavadi’s Amani National Congress (ANC) men.
Many wondered whether she was planning to join the party at the height of wrangles in the ruling Jubilee Party which is split down the middle in the 2022 succession politics.
She had been summoned to the EACC headquarters to record a statement over Sh52.8 million suspect pending bills.
And when she emerged to speak to reporters after the grilling session, Waiguru was flanked by Lugari MP Ayub Savula who said the party was courting her.
“Yes we are courting her to join our party because there are problems in her party,” he said, “even a girl is courted and so that is what we are doing.”
Waiguru did not comment on Savula’s comments but she accused EACC of political witchhunt.
She said she was being intimidated politically.
Waiguru was quoted recently saying that Mt Kenya has not endorsed ODM leader Raila Odinga, and that there were wrangles in the ruling Jubilee party that has forced her to embark on consultations with her Kirinyaga residents.
“This is all political, it is just intimidation from my recent statements,” she said, after recording a statement at the Ethics and Anti Corruption Commission (EACC), vowing to continue consulting. “I am still consulting. I am speaking to the people of Kirinyaga and Mount Kenya,” she said of the talks about her next political vehicle.
Waiguru’s grilling came days after she claimed witch hunt by the State agency over her anticipated change of political position on the 2022 State House race.
She was summoned to the EACC offices where she spent more than three hours recording a statement with detectives before she emerged to speak to reporters who had been camping outside Integrity Centre.
“Recently I said I am introspecting on the political way forward and immediately I get EACC summons,” she tweeted on Saturday. “Is it just a coincidence, witch hunt or the usual attempt to shape narratives for 2022 politics?” she posed.
Waiguru said the amount in question was to sort a pending bill under her predecessor in 2010 that was to cater for allocation and subdivision of land meant for a settlement scheme, adding that the amount was yet to be paid.
The county chief who had closely associated with forums to mobilize support for former Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s State House ambitions recently denied backing the ODM leader.
Speaking after a two-day retreat in Laikipia county on August 21, Waiguru said engagements with other national leaders were only consultative and had settled on none.
“There has been speculation that we are leaning towards Raila Odinga, that is not true. In fact, what we are doing is consultations so whoever we think will articulate our issues is the one we will back,” Waiguru said.
Her remarks in the company of her Kiambu counterpart James Nyoro, Murang’a Woman Representative Sabina Chege, Ndaragwa MP Jeremiah Kioni and former Nairobi County Speaker Beatrice Erachi came a day after the Court of Appeal upheld the nullification of the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) constitution amendment process which she’d vouched for.
Following the appeal court decision, Waiguru put out a tweet suggesting a change in her political stance.
“Kenya will go on. BBI intended well but we must respect the constitutional authority of the courts and find other legitimate means to achieve Kenya’s unity and prosperity. And for some of us, it’s time for serious introspection on the political way forward,” she tweeted.
During a recent interview, Waiguru also said that it would be impossible to retain her seat on a Jubilee Party ticket and that she was open to other options, sparking speculations that she might defect to Deputy President William Ruto’s United Democratic Alliance party.
