Anne Waiguru stirs political storm in Jubilee coalition

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NAIROBI: Former Devolution Cabinet Secretary Anne Waiguru has kicked off a political storm in Jubilee.

Even as some TNA and URP leaders put on a brave face, political analysts point to signs that the state of the Jubilee union has been shaken. Kenyatta University lecturer Dr Edward Kisiangani says the storm will shake the core of the coalition.

“The Jubilee Coalition was founded on lies. Now that there are no more lies to bind them together like the ICC narrative they used to ascend to power, the marriage is in problems because the coalition partners never belonged to each other,” he says.

“The partners entered into a marriage founded on lies hoping this would cover up their weaknesses but now individual differences are emerging and the chickens have come home to roost. There would be nothing more to hold the coalition together except ethnic interests, and even if they were to stick together for the 2017 elections, the union will not last until 2022,” he says.

The coalition, he says, is being consumed by the dragon of corruption, leaving both sides badly exposed. He cites the wave of rebellion spreading across parts of the Rift Valley as a further pointer to the woes facing the coalition, adding that there have been suggestions that Waiguru’s affidavit was engineered by elements sympathetic to TNA who want to discredit URP.

UNSCATHED

Names of political heavyweights from one wing of the coalition have been dragged into the NYS scandal where hundreds of millions of shillings were lost.

In a sworn affidavit early this week, Waiguru mentioned Majority Leader in the National Assembly Aden Duale, Deputy Senate Majority Leader Kipchumba Murkomen and Deputy President’s personal aide Farouk Kibet.

The three are confidantes of Deputy President William Ruto and founding members of the United Republican Party (URP), a key Jubilee affiliate party.

But there are those who believe the coalition will ride the current wave and emerge unscathed.

Prof Karuti Kanyinga from the University of Nairobi’s Institute of Development Studies says recent events will have no implications for the coalition given that the partners were initially joined by other interests.

“It is clear that good governance is not a key pillar for the coalition because both sides are involved in corruption. Waiguru is reading from a script we have seen before but history has shown that in such cases she will eventually fall alone,” he says.

Besides, according to Kanyinga, the President still needs the coalition as the country heads into a competitive election year.

A section of Central Kenya leaders have disowned leaders mentioned in corruption within government. In a joint statement read by  Central and Nairobi Parliamentary Caucus chairman Dennis Waweru (Dagoretti South) and Mukuruweini MP Kabando wa Kabando yesterday, the leaders distanced themselves from those embroiled in financial impropriety, specifically the NYS saga.

The leaders warned those implicated in graft against dragging entire communities, political parties and perceived interest groups into their individual woes. They said all those mentioned in the NYS scam should desist from dragging the Jubilee coalition into the murk.

While calling for resignation of the two, West Pokot Senator John Lonyangapuo threw in a new twist to the saga.

“The recent revelation by Waiguru speaks volumes about the swift move by URP to ditch their party and join the Jubilee Party in a bid to conceal the truth about public funds they had lost,” he said.

In what appeared to be a salvo fired at the top leadership of a section of the coalition, Lonyangapuo said the Uhuru administration faces a big challenge from political brokers.

POLITICAL RESPONSIBILITY

“These are people who want to speak on his (Uhuru) behalf. We did not vote for Ruto in the past election. He just happened to be DP because of Kenyatta. Come 2017 we want him to solicit for votes by himself otherwise we are not ready to give our votes to brokers,” he said.

Senator Lonyangapuo was elected on a Kanu ticket.

Chesumei MP Elijah Lagat (URP) recalled a spat between Waiguru and a section of URP MPs who pushed for her impeachment following the removal from office of former NYS Director General Kiplimo Rugut.

“It is now clear that Rugut was removed to make room for corrupt individuals,” he said, adding that the Government should not be selective in dealing with those implicated in the scandal.

Long before her resignation in late 2015, Waiguru appeared to link her woes at the ministry to the URP wing of the coalition. Nandi MP Alfred Keter (URP) had been pushing for her impeachment.

Duale is among those who rallied to Waiguru’s defence, calling her a whistleblower, while discrediting Keter’s impeachment bid which he said lacked substance.

Waiguru’s continued stay in the Cabinet at the time also saw a section of MPs from Central Kenya break ranks with their colleagues to join calls for her resignation.

TNA Secretary General Onyango Oloo has distanced the coalition from the saga saying those implicated in the scandal should exonerate themselves as individuals. Other legislators from TNA, though guarded, have made similar remarks.

“We expect investigations to be carried out by the relevant agencies and those found culpable should face the law. It is individuals who have been mentioned in the scandal and not the coalition,” said Githunguri MP Njoroge Baiya.

Perhaps pointing to how delicate the matter is for the survival of the coalition, Kakamega Senator Boni Khalwale has charged that the top leadership in Jubilee administration has remained quiet on the matter because both sides are beneficiaries of the NYS rip off.

“Aden Duale is the third in hierarchy from President Uhuru Kenyatta and DP William Ruto. Murkomen, the deputy majority leader in the Senate has been mentioned in the NYS scandal yet neither Uhuru nor Ruto will instruct them to take political responsibility because when they step aside they will mention others in Jubilee involved in the scam. That is why they are silent,” he said.

Among those who see latest events as a sign that the Jubilee coalition cookie is crumbling is Budalangí MP and ODM Secretary General Ababu Namwamba.

“We have told Kenyans all along that the Jubilee Coalition cannot be trusted. Coalitions don’t steal; individuals do, and must therefore take personal responsibility. It is no wonder that the Mumo Matemu-led Ethics and Anti-Corruption team was disbanded and the office of the Auditor General is under siege,” he said.