Eyes on 2027 as Kamba, Gema join amid calls to 'salvage nation'

Wiper Party leader Kalonzo Musyoka,(centre) with Jesus Teaching Ministry Bishop Peter Manyuru(left) and Jubilee party Secretary General Jeremiah Kioni during a church service at the church on 24,November 2024.[Benard Orwongo,Standard]

Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka’s strategy to endear himself to the Mt Kenya region is now clear after his Kamba community was on Wednesday reintegrated into the Gema cultural association.

The ceremony, which climaxed at the All Saints Cathedral in Nairobi, saw elders from the Kikuyu Council of Elders, Embu Council of Elders, Njuri Ncheke and the Akamba clan governing council conduct rituals of reintegration.

The elders said the process started in 2016. The exercise signals the start of a new relationship that “tied together the four communities from a common ancestry to a future that only themselves can determine.”

In March, Kalonzo met a section of Kikuyu elders led by the chairperson, Wachira Kiago. They agreed to roll out the process that would restore the social-political integration of the communities.

The elders attributed their differences to a divide and rule strategy by the colonialists, which was perpetuated after independence.

“Our differences have been inorganic, they were hatched by the colonial masters to divide us and to dilute a one united front to oppose their rule and oppression, but today marks a new journey for our communities,” said Machaki Kanyenji from Embu.

Former National Council of Churches of Kenya Secretary General, Rev Canon Peter Karanja, who is the chief executive of the Gema Cultural Association, noted how Kalonzo supported Mwai Kibaki “to restore order”.

“After the 2008 post-election violence, there was a need to form a government. The Gema communities remember with joy and great fondness and appreciation how the Akamba closed ranks with Kibaki to restore order, make governance possible and heal the extensive wounds that people had suffered,” he said.

He said Kibaki and Kalonzo led the country to realise a steady economic growth.

At the same time, the elders decried the weaponisation of ethnicity by political leaders. “As Kenyans, we must not be afraid of identifying ourselves with our communities. The celebration of our cultures, diverse ethnic values, and collective efforts for unity are enshrined in our Constitution of Kenya 2010,” said Karanja.

George Ndoto, a Cabinet minister in the Kanu administration and a co-chair of the cultural group, said successive administrations has continued the colonial mentality so as to separate communities.

“Traces of it have raised ugly heads in the successive independent governments, the extremity of which was the proscribing of Gema and other community organisations during the Kanu regime,” he said.

At the same time, Gema hit out at President William Ruto and called for urgent measures to “salvage our nation”.

“The ever-rising cost of living has affected some of the most vulnerable segments of our population, which should be tamed. Appropriate safety nets should be put in place to cushion the vulnerable, especially the widows, orphans and women,” they said.

They decried loss of jobs due to the closure of local and international companies, capital flight and the impact of punishing taxation. They noted that most people were unable to put food on table, and meet basic needs like shelter, education and health.