By The Weekly Vision Team
The ongoing impeachment hearing in the Senate against Meru Governor Kawira Mwangaza has taken a dramatic turn after Cabinet Secretary Moses Kuria allegedly started lobbying Azimio-allied senators to save her from being impeached. The move by Kuria has put him on a collision course against his fellow CS Mithika Linturi, who is said to be the force behind Mwangaza’s woes.
Analysts say that Kuria believes that his removal from the influential and lucrative trade portfolio was influenced by Mr Linturi and Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua and that it is now payback time for him against the two. DP Gachagua and Mr Kuria fell out badly during the campaigns leading up to the 2022 elections after the DP campaigned for Kiambu governor Kimani Wa Matangi against him. Sources claim that DP Gachagua had even proposed to President William Ruto that former Kiambu governor William Kabogo be appointed to the cabinet and not Kuria.
However, it was William Ruto’s personal decision to appoint Kuria, much to the disappointment of Gachagua. Kuria was conspicuously missing during Gachagua’s meeting in Kiambu days ago, where over 30 MPs and other political leaders attended. Keen political observers might have noticed that Kuria has never attended any function presided over by the DP in the recent past.
Sources say Kuria has also been on a revenge mission against his fellow CS Linturi. It all began during the launch of the Meru Industrial Park after Linturi personally called Kuria, pleading with him to postpone the event because the governor was facing an impeachment motion at the County Assembly and that she should not be seen around senior government officials. To Linturi’s surprise, Kuria ignored the warnings and went ahead to launch the park in the presence of Kawira Mwangaza. In his speech, Kuria went ahead to heap praise on the governor.
This did not go down well with Mr Linturi, whom sources say consulted the DP, and a plot to remove Kuria from the trade docket was hatched. In revenge, Kuria is now on a mission to save Kawira from impeachment in the Senate. Last week, he shared photos with Azimio leader Raila Odinga and Wiper Party leader Kalonzo Musyoka in Mombasa.
Kuria is said to have met the two leaders separately; although details of the meetings remain scanty, there are indications that he sought the meetings to implore Raila and Kalonzo to whip Azimio senators to back Kawira and save her from impeachment. Already, Kenya Kwanza senators are out to save the governor, though those from the mountains who are in the DP’s political camp have vowed to impeach her. It is for this reason that Kuria is lobbying to get the support of Azimio senators to save Kawira.
What is not known is if Kuria is doing the lobbying on the instructions of President Ruto or if it is his personal decision to pull a sweet revenge against Limturi and the DP. Again, for Raila and Kalonzo to accept their photos to be shared by the CS, there seems to have been concurrence on Kuria’s request.
