BBI intrigues: Crowd attempts to block Murkomen, Kuria from VIP dais

Politicians are camping in Mombasa for the Building Bridges Initiative rally.

Like expected, there was clashes.

The crowd attempted to block politicians allied to Deputy President William Ruto from accessing the VIP dais.

They include Elgeyo Marakwet Senator Kipchumba Murkomen, Gatundu South MP Moss Kuria and Malindi MP Aisha Jumwa.

However, Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho intervened.

At one point, Nyali MP Mohammed Ali and his Suna East counterpart Junet Mohammed were involved in a scuffle over sitting arrangements.

There is palpable anxiety as allies of political rivals Ruto and opposition leader Raila Odinga congregate in Mombasa.

The rally at Mama Ngina Waterfront Park follows two others in Kisii and Kakamega where Raila’s allies had planned and dominated.

In the prelude of the meeting, close to 3,000 delegates, including MPs, governors, senators, MCAs and civil society activists from the Coast met at Wildwaters Centre in Mombasa to discuss and draft memorandum on economic marginalisation and historical land injustices to be presented to the BBI task force.

Raila, who arrived in Mombasa on Thursday, attended yesterday’s meeting at Wildwaters Centre besides Joho, Amason Kingi of Kilifi, Dhadho Godana of Tana River, Granton Samboja of Taita Taveta and Lamu’s Fahim Twaha.

The ODM leader said it took him and President Uhuru Kenyatta two meetings lasting 19 hours for them to come up with the nine-point agenda of the BBI and make a handshake outside Harambee House in Nairobi.

He dismissed those claiming the two leaders plotted to use the process to create positions for themselves in 2022.

Today’s meeting will be a defining moment for the two teams who have traded barbs and sometimes bitter insults and whether they will gel after their tumultuous occasions.

Ruto’s elaborate plans for more say in the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) debate demonstrates the high stakes in the report.

A document seen by the Saturday Standard, lays bare the strategy Ruto and his team plan to use to control the BBI narrative and they believe Raila and organisers of the Kisii and Kakamega BBI meetings handed them a golden opportunity to reach out to Kenyans.

The DP allies are seeking greater control of the remaining BBI meetings after the Mombasa rally.

The strategy paper by one of the Ruto think-tanks notes that after the Kisii and Kakamega rallies, Raila’s team would have covered much of their strongholds and would now move to regions where Tanga Tanga has following.