Efforts by the Kikuyu Council of Elders into reconciling Water Cabinet Secretary Alice Wahome and Murang’a Woman Representative Betty Maina seem to have failed after it emerged that Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has a hand in the war, The Weekly Vision has learnt.
A source who has been closely monitoring the war unfolding between the two leaders claimed that DP Gachagua has taken sides and is supporting the Women Rep against the CS. The source adds that the DP did not support Alice Wahome’s appointment to the cabinet but being a close ally to President William Ruto, Gachagua could not dictate to his boss regarding her appointment. Alice Wahome was the first to ask President Ruto to nominate a woman from the Mount Kenya region for the running mate position before the last election, a request that did not go down well with DP Gachagua. This was the beginning of the misunderstanding between him and CS Wahome and their eventual fallout. President Ruto had to intervene, promising CS Wahome a powerful position in government if he won the election.
The sources say that Alice Wahome and Mr Gachagua continued to pull in a different direction and failed to read from the same script during the campaigns. When the nomination panel was constituted to nominate a running mate for Ruto, it is claimed that Wahome publicly lobbied for the Mount Kenya legislators to vote for the Meru Senator Prof. Kithure Kindiki.
During the voting conducted by the panel, when asked to vote for their preferred running mate to DP William Ruto, UDA-affiliated MPs from the Mount Kenya region overwhelmingly picked Sen. Kithure Kindiki over the then Mathira MP Rigathi Gachagua. President Ruto overruled them and decreed it must be Gachagua.
The Muranga woman representative has, however, dismissed the Kikuyu elders calling them political brokers, claiming they are being used to defend and protect the interests of CS Wahome. Efforts by The Weekly Vision to reach the CS for a response proved futile.
The tussle between the two started about a month ago during the campaigns for the Kandara parliamentary seat by-election. The Women’s Representative claimed CS Wahome was supporting a candidate from another party instead of a United Democratic Alliance (UDA) candidate.
“Wahome had her preferred candidate during the party primaries and when he failed to secure the ticket, she opted to support another aspirant hoping to edge out the UDA candidate,” said Betty Maina.
