Trouble began when Mr Kiunjuri allegedly gave Ruto conditions before his party could join the Kenya Kwanza Coalition. Sources say Kiunjuri had asked Ruto to consider him for a running mate position but after consultations with his inner circle, Ruto dismissed his request.Soon after he started blowing hot and cold regarding his support for Ruto’s Presidential bid, and publicly told his supporters that they should not vote for William Ruto or Azimio la Umoja – One Kenya coalition’s presidential candidate Raila Odinga blindly
Former Agriculture Cabinet Secretary in the government of former President Uhuru Kenyatta who is also party leader of The Service Party (TSP) Mwangi Kiunjuri is said to wedging a secret political war against President William Ruto as a result of alleged betrayal. Mr Kiunjuri won the Laikipia East MP seat despite opposition from President Ruto’s UDA wave in the Mount Kenya region; he has not been in good terms with Ruto and his top allies since then.
Trouble began when Mr Kiunjuri allegedly gave Ruto conditions before his party could join the Kenya Kwanza Coalition. Sources say Kiunjuri had asked Ruto to consider him for a running mate position but Ruto after consultations with his inner circle dismissed his request. It was after the dismissal of his request that Kiunjuri started blowing hot and cold regarding support for Ruto’s Presidential bid, and publicly told his supporters that they should not vote for William Ruto or Azimio la Umoja – One Kenya coalition’s presidential candidate Raila Odinga blindly.
Kiunjuri was at loggerheads with Kenya Kwanza leaders who were preaching the gospel of a six-piece vote. During his rallies, he attacked both Ruto and his running mate Rigathi Gachagua over the six-piece calls. He was later to attack Ruto accusing him of withholding certain details of the Kenya Kwanza coalition agreement. He went public and demanded that Ruto should reveal the contents of the document submitted to the Office of Registrar of Political Parties
Ruto’s close allies did not take the statement lightly and vowed to resist any attempts by Mr Kiunjuri to arm-twist the then DP. He was to later declare his interest in the Laikipia East seat on the TSP ticket and again Ruto allies had asked him to join the national presidential campaign team and wait for a presidential appointment once Kenya Kwanza formed the government but he could hear none of the promises. Kiunjuri trounced then-outgoing MP Amin Deddy by garnering 30,057 votes against UDA’s Deddy who garnered 28,021 votes.
Again during the campaigns, Kiunjuri was at loggerheads with Kenya Kwanza leaders who were preaching the gospel of a six-piece vote. During his rallies, he attacked both Ruto and his running mate Rigathi Gachagua over the six-piece calls. He was later to attack Ruto accusing him of withholding certain details of the Kenya Kwanza coalition agreement. He went public and demanded that Ruto should reveal the contents of the document submitted to the Office of Registrar of Political Parties.
By the time Kenyans were going for the elections, there was no love lost between Ruto and Kiunjuri. The party has not been allocated any state jobs. True to his words, Kiunjuri has been missing in action and although many thought that as a party leader, he was to land a lucrative job in Ruto’s government or even be made a Cabinet Secretary.
Sources told The Weekly Vision that Kiunjuri has vowed to pull his party from the Kenya Kwanza Coalition if his people are not considered for state jobs. Kiunjuri served as Laikipia East MP between 1997 and 2012. In 2012, Mr Kiunjuri formed the Grand National Union (GNU) party. In 2016, GNU merged with several other parties to form Jubilee and supported President Kenyatta’s re-election bid in the 2017 polls.
