UhuRuto charm fails to work on Martha Karua as she refuses to join Jubilee

President Uhuru Kenyatta is received by Narc Kenya leader Martha Karua at Kerugoya Stadium in Kirinyaga County yesterday. [PHOTOS: KIBATA KIHU/STANDARD]

Dramatic moments were witnessed yesterday when the country’s topmost politicians -- President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy, William Ruto -- met with two aspiring Kirinyaga governors, who are also the most recognisable women in the country.

Martha Karua, an experienced politician who fell out with President Mwai Kibaki in 2009 after Uhuru was named deputy prime minister, caused a stir when she flatly refused to join Jubilee as had been asked by the President and his deputy during a stop in Kirinyaga County. Later at another stop yesterday, another colourful woman leader and debutant in politics, former Devolution Cabinet Secretary Anne Waiguru, had her awkward moment when DP Ruto, who has in the past berated her in public over the National Youth Service (NYS) scandal, introduced her to the crowd.

Ms Karua, who is the Narc leader, last month warmed up to the Uhuru-led Jubilee Party when she announced her candidature for the Kirinyaga gubernatorial seat and that her party would not field a presidential candidate.

Ms Waiguru, who was not given a chance to address the crowd, has been at the centre of one of Kenya's biggest scandals where over Sh1 billion was lost at NYS. The scam has also brought down a number of senior ministry officials and NYS officers.

It was drama galore as Karua, known for her strong persona, flatly rejected the calls by the crowd that she joins Jubilee Party by constantly flashing the three-finger salute associated with Narc Kenya.

Despite a personal plea from both the President and his deputy, Karua remained steadfast with a strong message of: "I'm going nowhere".

When she was introduced by Ruto to address a that crowd gathered outside Kerugoya Level Four Hospital, Karua was wildly cheered, but the crowd roared Jubilee in unison.

At the height of the last General Election, Karua had insisted that the President and his deputy were not eligible to contest as they were suspects at the International Criminal Court, where they were facing crimes against humanity charges that have since been dropped.

Narc-Kenya salute

Yesterday, her attempts to address the crowd were drowned with shouts of Jubilee! Jubilee! that she just handed back the microphone to Ruto, still waving Narc Kenya's salute.

"I wish to welcome the President and his deputy to Kirinyaga because we know people here love them..." she said as the crowd interrupted her with shouts of "ingia Jubilee! ingia Jubilee! (join Jubilee)". Even after Ruto told her to read the public mood and move to the "majority side", Karua still had her hand up and said she was not leaving the flower party.

"It is clear that these people like you but you have heard what they are saying. You need to come to Jubilee which will accommodate you, the voice of the people is the voice of God," Ruto told Karua amid thunderous applause from the large crowd attending the meeting.

Ruto said that JP was the unifying factor for the country "that all progressive people should join". When it was the President's turn to address the meeting, he implored Karua to join Jubilee, saying he would be humbled working with Karua.

"I plead with my sister here, she is a warrior and I have tremendous respect for her, let her come and join us. I'm ready to work with her because even the people have spoken," Uhuru said.

"I respectfully ask her to consider what the people here are saying so that we are in one team. Even me in 2007, I was in the Opposition but I joined in the (President) Kibaki re-election."

Earlier, when Uhuru and Ruto landed at Kerugoya Stadium to start a day-long tour of the county, Karua was among the local leaders that had lined up to welcome them.

Speaking to journalists before the two arrived, Karua reiterated her support for Uhuru's re-election, saying Narc-Kenya Kirinyaga Branch, where she belongs, had resolved to support the Jubilee government.

"I have said that my mother branch has resolved to support Kenyatta's re-election and I support that. As Narc Kenya, we have allowed all our 31 branches to make a choice on who they will support," she said.

At Kianyaga Market where Uhuru launched construction of the Kutus-Kianyaga –Kiamutugu-Kibugu road in Gichugu, Waiguru made an appearance and was among the politicians introduced.

It was the first public engagement that Ruto met face-to-face with Waiguru, days after he challenged her to carry her own cross in the NYS saga where money was lost during her tenure as the line Cabinet Secretary.

Interestingly, it was Ruto who introduced Waiguru to a cheering crowd, but the body language betrayed tension between them.

The fallout over the NYS scandal has seen the two exchange barbs in public. Waiguru has accused a Ruto ally, Elgeyo Marakwet Senator Kipchumba Murkomen, and the DP's Personal Assistant Farouk Kibet of having a hand in the explosive scandal. But the two have denied culpability.

Although Mr Murkomen defended her over accusations of wrongdoing in the NYS saga while she was Cabinet Secretary, the senator has changed tune and demanded her prosecution.

Yesterday, it appeared like there was no love lost between Ruto and Waiguru as the two avoided eye contact as the Kianyaga meeting proceeded.

Rival Politicians

Earlier at the Kerugoya Stadium, Karua and Uhuru hugged excitedly and exchanged pleasantries before joining the convoy headed to Kerugoya hospital.

Apart from Karua, Kirinyaga Central MP Gitari Gachoki and Kirinyaga Governor Joseph Ndathi, all other politicians were not given a chance to address the public.

Mr Ndathi was not able to make an address after he was continually booed by the crowd, forcing him to hand over the microphone back to Ruto. With showdown between supporters of rival politicians anticipated, Uhuru and Ruto changed tack and did not allow any other person to speak. They were just introduced to the gatherings.

Karua also joined Uhuru in Kangema in Murang'a, where he launched a road project. While in Kirinyaga, the President insisted that he had no preferred candidates in all elective seats and told residents to reject those claiming he had sent them.

"No one should come to you and say I have sent him or her. Let anyone seeking votes to talk directly to people, we will work with those who you will give us," said the President.

He said nomination losers who will gracefully accept the outcome of the primaries will be accommodated in Government if Jubilee is re-elected.

Yesterday, just as they had done in Nyeri, the President and his deputy continued their attack on the Opposition, which they accused of sabotaging the country's economy through propaganda.