It is said that Mr. Waititu plans to run for the Kabete parliamentary seat in 2027. In May 2015, he won the same seat in a by-election soon after losing the Nairobi gubernatorial seat to Evans Kidero of the ODM. Mr Waititu claims that UDA party and President Ruto are liars and that he cannot be associated with them. Analysts say the defection of Mr Waititu from President Ruto’s camp is politically significant considering his long-standing political career
By The Weekly Vision Team
As political events continue to unfold within the Kenya Kwanza administration, people in the Mount Kenya region continue to witness fresh twists and turns. Former Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Waititu sent shockwaves through the UDA Party after he abruptly abandoned President William Ruto’s camp.
Emerging details indicate that Mr Waititu has sensed that the ground in Mount Kenya is slippery; people are rebelling against the Kenya Kwanza administration. Well-placed sources close to Mr Waitit revealed to The Weekly Vision that the former governor is planning to make a political comeback in 2027 should parliament amend the law to allow impeached governors to run for elective political positions or to hold public office.
It is said that Mr. Waititu plans to run for the Kabete parliamentary seat in 2027. In May 2015, he won the same seat in a by-election soon after losing the Nairobi gubernatorial seat to Evans Kidero of the ODM. Mr Waititu claims that UDA party and President Ruto are liars and that he cannot be associated with them. Analysts say the defection of Mr Waititu from President Ruto’s camp is politically significant considering his long-standing political career.
When Waititu was impeached as Kiambu governor, sources say it was because of his close links and ties with then-DP Ruto. The same fate befell Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko. It is therefore Waititu’s bitterness that the man who made him to be kicked out of the plum position of governorship has now abandoned him.
Analysts say Ruto used Waititu to undermine then-President Uhuru Kenyatta in Kiambu the same way he used Sonko to undermine Sonko in Nairobi. There are allegations that Ruto had promised Waititu protection should he win the presidency and that his allegedly framed criminal cases would be thrown out. However, one year down the line, Waititu’s cases are still active in court, while other cases, including Sonko’s, have been thrown out. Could this be the reason why Waititu is saying that Ruto is a liar?
Political pundits claim that Waititu has waited in vain to be rewarded by Ruto for the botched appointment to chair the Nairobi Rivers Commission, an appointment that High Court Judge Justice Hedwig Ongudi suspended and directed that Waititu should not be appointed to any other state or public office pending the determination of the case that was filed by the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) and Transparency International Kenya.
For those who could read between the lines, it was clear that Waititu was on his way out of UDA when, during a TV interview, he declared that Uhuru was still the Mount Kenya Kingpin and that he was sure the fallout between Ruto and his deputy Rigathi Gachagua was so huge that come 2027, Ruto would not have Gachagua as his running mate.
Again, at an event attended by CS Moses Kuria and former Kiambu Governor William Kabogo, Waititu and Kabogo issued a strong statement and asked the residents that any UDA leader should not address them.
This week, he came out gunblazing and announced his exit from UDA. Following his exit, it could be confirmation that the Mount Kenya region of the mountain is gaining momentum at an alarming rate and getting even bolder.
Initially, defections from UDA from the mountains were by voters such as Mama Mboga and Boda Boda people and small-scale traders, but now Kenya is witnessing very prominent and influential politicians from the region dumping Ruto and UDA.
Analysts say the defection of Waititu speaks volumes considering that he has several corruption-related cases, which should be giving him sleepless nights, and that he should be the last person to leave UDA and dump Ruto. So the big question is, with such baggage on his head, where did he get the courage to abandon Ruto?
Without casting aspersions on UDA, it is easy to predict that more prominent UDA politicians from the mountain will soon dump the party and Ruto. The truth of the matter is that in 2027, more than half of the UDA voters will vote against Ruto.
Waititu’s defection has created the perception that the UDA party has lost ground in the mountains and that Ruto lied to the mountains over unfulfilled promises. Analysts now say that had Waititu stuck with Uhuru, he would be serving his final term as Kiambu governor; however, he chose to work with Ruto, and that move sent him into political oblivion.
