NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 20 – President Uhuru Kenyatta was on Wednesday scheduled to host national celebrations to honour heroic efforts by those who fought for Kenya’s independence and subsequent heroes who have gallantly fought to protect the country against terrorist incursions.
The celebrations to be hosted in Kirinyaga in the larger central Kenya region, President Kenyatta’s troubled political backyard, come at a time of an intense succession debate pitting his deputy William Ruto, with whom he has fallen out with, against former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, once a bitter rival but now seen as his preferred successor in the August 9, 2022 elections.
The region has largely rallied behind Deputy President William Ruto with a new study rating his support among residents at 58 per cent ahead of Odinga’s 27 per cent.
The 58th Mashujaa Day celebrations at Wanguru Stadium will provide an opportunity for the three leaders to share a platform.
Kenyatta and Ruto have not been seen together in public apart since the June 1 Madaraka Day celebrations in Kisumu.
The DP has missed numerous meetings chaired by Kenyatta at State House with his office saying he has not been invited to such meetings including State visits by foreign leaders.
Tensions between the two have also led to the collapse of the governing Jubilee Party they co-founded ahead of the 2017 re-election campaign, with Ruto’s faction decamping the United Democratic Alliance. Kenyatta’s group on the other hand has been noncommittal to the outfit with a section of members accusing a rival group of running down the party.
With only 3,000 guests allowed to the 10,000-seat stadium in line with coronavirus containment protocols, it remains to be seen whether local politics will feature at the event.
Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru who is looking to defend her seat in 2022 is facing a formidable challenge by the County Woman Representative Purity Ngirichi, who identified with the Ruto-led UDA, an outfit the Governor has expressed an interest in.
Waiguru, who recently signaled her imminent departure from the Uhuru-Raila camp, has been meeting Ruto-allied leaders including Nakuru Governor hopeful Susan Kihika, a staunch supporter of the DP.
Interior Principal Secretary Karanja Kibicho, once a bitter rival of Waiguru and Ngirichi, recently closed ranks with the two in a maneuver seen as an attempt to avert an embarrassment in his home county during President Kenyatta’s visit.
The leaders vowed to put political difference aside during the national celebrations.
On Monday, President Uhuru Kenyatta met with a section of leaders from Kirinyaga during his tour to inspect the ongoing projects in the county where he warned Mt Kenya leaders against being misled, in remarks seen to target Ruto.
President Kenyatta could also use the event as a platform to reiterate Kenya’s stand in regards to the recent ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in regards to the maritime boundary dispute with Somalia.
On October 12, the UN-backed ICJ ruled that that there is no agreed maritime boundary that exists between Kenya and Somalia, even though it handed Somalia most of sea zone claimed by Kenya.
Kenya, which had claimed the entire area off the East African coast, said it would refuse to recognize the jurisdiction of the “biased” Hague-based court.
President Kenyatta already termed the ruling erroneous adding that Kenya is committed to a diplomatic solution of the current impasse.
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