In the last General Election, Baringo Senator Gideon Moi ran on a slogan that literally said let us bring back the presidency home “ong’ewekun teta kaa.”
His fortunes then were not as promising but the turn of events in the last two days show there is a strong indication that the former ruling party is emerging as the key beneficiary of the fight between President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy, William Ruto.
Before retired president Mwai Kibaki swept to power in 2002 on account of the Rainbow coalition, Kanu had ruled the country for 40 years.
Now, Gideon, the late president Daniel Moi’s son, wants to bring the presidency back home to the Rift Valley.
Moi’s scion has also been the target of political suitors, the latest being Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka who on Sunday, May 10, expressed intentions to enter into a coalition with Kanu.
Moi, who took over the political baton following the death of his father in February, seems to have employed every trick in the book to survive the Jubilee onslaught in the Rift Valley spearheaded by his political nemesis Ruto.
Ruto backed Simon Chelugui (now Labour Cabinet Secretary) to run against the senator in a bid to clip his wings but the President reportedly intervened and cooled what was shaping up as a battle royale.
“I am following the footprints of the cows and hope to get them back home for you… You people know how sweet milk is?” Gideon always said in his rallies. He promised the electorate that he would go for the presidency in 2022.
Monday’s events where Senate Majority Leader Kipchumba Murkomen, a diehard DP Ruto supporter, was controversially replaced by his West Pokot counterpart Samuel Poghisio of Kanu is a signal that Senator Moi means business.
This was in line with the Jubilee-Kanu post-election agreement signed last week. The Senate changes followed a Jubilee Senate Parliamentary Group meeting chaired by President Uhuru Kenyatta on Monday.
According to Jubilee Secretary-General Raphael Tuju, the agreement was signed in 2013 but was not ratified by the Registrar of Political Parties.
“There was an error that led the document not being ratified so we acted to restore the instruments,” he said.
The strong ties between Moi and Kenyatta families, which dates back to the 1960s, has also played to Senator Moi’s advantage, with Uhuru appearing to be tactically bringing him into his succession plans.
