During the State House talks, Moi reportedly agreed to withdraw from the 27 November Baringo senatorial by-election in support of the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) candidate, 31-year-old Kiprono Chemitei. It has since emerged that the KANU boss could secure a Cabinet appointment, while other senior party officials may also be considered for State positions within the broad-based government that already includes members of Raila Odinga’s ODM party serving in various capacities
By TWV Political Desk
A meeting between KANU chairman Gideon Moi and President William Ruto at State House, Nairobi, on Wednesday, 9 October, has effectively ended active opposition to the president’s leadership in the Rift Valley, a region he is keen to consolidate ahead of the next General Election.
This move could prove vital for Ruto’s re-election bid, given the likelihood of losing a significant portion of the 3.3 million votes he garnered in the Mt Kenya region in 2022, following his fallout with former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua.
The decision by former President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Jubilee Party to back former Interior Cabinet Secretary Dr Fred Matiang’i for the presidency could further alter the political landscape in the vote-rich region, whether he becomes a joint opposition candidate, a running mate, or if Jubilee chooses to run independently.
During the State House talks, Moi reportedly agreed to withdraw from the 27 November Baringo senatorial by-election in support of United Democratic Alliance (UDA) candidate Kiprono Chemitei, aged 31. Chemitei secured 48,791 votes in the party primaries held on 21 September, defeating eight other contenders to clinch the UDA ticket.
The following day, on Thursday, 10 October, President Ruto met with Chemitei and other UDA parliamentary candidates, David Ndakwa (Malava), Muriuki Muthende (Mbeere North), and Ahmed Maalim Hassan (Banisa), at State House, Nairobi, ahead of the upcoming by-elections.
It has since emerged that Gideon Moi could be appointed to the Cabinet, while other senior KANU officials may receive State appointments within the broad-based government that already includes members of Raila Odinga’s ODM party serving in various capacities.
The next day, Ruto visited the Moi family home in Kabarak for further talks with KANU officials, where he announced that the party would formally join the broad-based administration. “I have sought Gideon’s partnership to help me pull this country out of the third world so that we can build a progressive society,” the president said.
Although his appointment was not political, former Bomet Governor Isaac Ruto, previously one of the president’s fiercest critics quit active politics after joining the Judicial Service Commission (JSC), where he currently serves as vice-chairperson.
So strained were Ruto’s ties with the Moi family that, in 2018, he was barred from visiting the ailing former president at his Kabarak home. In February 2020, then-Deputy President Ruto, together with Kapsaret MP Oscar Sudi, Elgeyo Marakwet Senator Kipchumba Murkomen, and former State House Comptroller Franklin Bett, were denied access to view Moi’s body at Funeral Home, despite Ruto publicly describing him as a mentor earlier that day
The rapprochement between Ruto and Moi marks a dramatic shift in Rift Valley politics, given their long history of political rivalry. Ruto, once a protégé of former President Daniel arap Moi, rose to prominence after clinching the Eldoret North parliamentary seat in 1997 and serving as a powerful assistant minister in Moi’s administration. However, relations soured after Ruto led a campaign that saw KANU lose its grip in the region during the 2007 General Election, when he served as deputy leader of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) alongside Musalia Mudavadi.
So strained were Ruto’s ties with the Moi family that, in 2018, he was barred from visiting the ailing former president at his Kabarak home. In February 2020, then-Deputy President Ruto, together with Kapsaret MP Oscar Sudi, Elgeyo Marakwet Senator Kipchumba Murkomen, and former State House Comptroller Franklin Bett, were denied access to view Moi’s body at Funeral Home, despite Ruto publicly describing him as a mentor earlier that day.
In July 2024, when a video surfaced purporting to show Gideon Moi pledging support for Ruto’s administration, KANU swiftly dismissed it. “Our attention has been drawn to a misleading video clip resurfacing on social media, falsely suggesting that Hon. Gideon Moi is aligning himself with the current regime. We wish to set the record straight that Hon. Gideon Moi has neither the desire nor the inclination to support this administration,” the party said in a statement.
KANU clarified that the video had been filmed in 2021 during Hosea Kiplagat’s funeral and later re-uploaded with a false transcription, distorting its meaning.
Sources close to the Moi family suggest that Gideon’s decision to reconcile with Ruto may also be driven by business considerations, particularly the desire to safeguard the family’s vast interests.
This could, they claim, pave the way for the Standard Group, associated with the Moi family, to receive approximately KSh 1 billion owed by the Government Advertising Agency (GAA), a debt that has pushed the media house into deep financial distress. “For us, it’s a good thing,” said a former editor retrenched last August. “We don’t care what political direction he takes, as long as we finally receive our severance pay and the company gets its dues. We’ve suffered long enough.”
Gideon is also reportedly embroiled in a dispute with Kenya Railways Corporation over the sale of beach plots in Mombasa owned by his clearing and forwarding firm, Kencont Logistics Services Ltd.
Political insiders reveal that intermediaries have been quietly working behind the scenes to broker a truce between Ruto and Moi for months.
However, the new alliance has unsettled KANU supporters, leading to riots in Baringo when Gideon failed to present his nomination papers for the by-election.
