NAIROBI, Kenya, Apr 27 — National Liberal Party (NLP) leader Augustus Muli has vowed to call out any leader—regardless of ethnicity—who “plays games with Ukambani’s future,” saying the region has suffered for decades from political hypocrisy and recycled leadership.
Speaking amid debate over his recent remarks on Rigathi Gachagua, Muli said his criticism was not tribal but rooted in defending the region’s interests.
“When I criticized DCP leader Rigathi Gachagua this week, some rushed to frame it as a tribal attack. It was not. It was a defense of Ukambani,” he said.
Muli accused Gachagua of double standards, arguing that the DCP leader had previously blamed some Ukambani politicians for keeping the region “perpetually underdeveloped,” yet was now backing the same figures.
“You cannot diagnose the disease on Monday and dine with it on Tuesday. That is not a strategy. That is political gambling—and Ukambani is not a casino,” he said.
The NLP leader maintained he would not spare any leader who betrays the region’s interests.
“I’ll call out any leader, Kamba or otherwise, who plays games with Ukambani’s future,” he said.
“This is not about tribe. It is about truth. If a Kamba leader betrays our people, I will name him. If a Kikuyu, Kalenjin, Luo, or Luhya leader uses our region as a pawn, I will name them too.”
Muli said Ukambani has paid “too high a price for polite silence” over the past six decades, citing repeated cycles of unfulfilled promises on cotton, dams, and factories that leave the region with “no water, no jobs, no voice” after every election.
He argued that the United Opposition lacks sincerity in its current approach.
“Endorsing yesterday’s failures as today’s champions is not coalition-building. It is betrayal dressed as unity,” he said.
Ahead of the 2027 General Election, Muli called for a “radical break” from recycled leadership, urging a shift in Ukambani politics from personalities to economic development.
He outlined a three-point NLP agenda: reviving Kitui Textiles and establishing agro-processing plants so that “value addition stays here”; fast-tracking Thwake Dam to irrigate more than 100,000 acres; and linking TVET institutions directly to industry so that “a diploma comes with a job offer, not depression.”
“Ukambani’s tragedy isn’t a lack of resources. It’s a lack of respect—from Nairobi and from some of our own leaders,” he said.
Muli challenged Gachagua and the opposition to present a concrete development plan for the region.
“If you’re serious about Ukambani, show us factories, not funerals. Until then, we won’t be your voting machine,” he said.
Addressing Kamba leaders, he added that the era of being “kingmakers for others” must end.
“Either we make Ukambani king, or history records us as the generation that leased our children’s future,” he said.
The NLP leader dismissed claims that his remarks were driven by bitterness.
“If demanding water for my mother and jobs for my sister is bitterness, then Kenya needs more bitter people,” Muli said.
He added that he entered politics to be “useful to the powerless,” prioritizing “people over party, region over tribe, and future over past.”
“The time for games is over. The time for growth is now,” he asserted.
