Karua to Uhuru: Stay away from 2022 politics

NARC leader Martha Karua asked the president to stay away from 2022 politics in an exclusive interview with KTN News. [File, Standard]

National Rainbow Coalition (NARC) leader Martha Karua has discouraged President Uhuru Kenyatta from involving himself in the 2022 succession politics, urging him to let the electorate decide independently.

In an exclusive interview on KTN News on Monday, August 16, Karua politely referred to the State House Mombasa meeting on Monday, August 9, as a ‘bull dance’ or ‘big boys club’ meeting which according to her, anyone was free to hold.

The meeting brought together the president, ODM leader Raila Odinga, One Kenya Alliance leaders (Wiper’s Kalonzo Musyoka, Gideon Moi of KANU, Moses Wetangula of Ford-Kenya and Musalia Mudavadi of Amani National Congress) and Kakamega Governor Wycliffe Oparanya.

“We have supported President Uhuru Kenyatta since he took office and we will still support him until he finishes his second term,” Karua said.

She went on “He is about to finish his term in office, and all we can do is to ask him not to extend his hand in the cookie jar beyond his term limit,”

The Narc party leader urged President Uhuru to shun suppressing the will of the Kenyan people and let it prevail.

Further, the Kirinyaga Gubernatorial aspirant said she met with other leaders from Mount Kenya to chat about a favourable way forward for the region and not how to form coalitions.

She added it was early and it was hard to determine who to rally behind.

“President Uhuru has finished his term and cannot continue to hold ransom the people of Mount Kenya and that is why we (leaders of the region) took it upon ourselves to chat a way forward. We did not talk about coalitions,” she reiterated.

Karua’s sentiments come barely a week since she met with some Mt Kenya leaders (The Service Party of Kenya leader and former Cabinet Secretary Mwangi Kiunjuri and Moses Kuria of Chama Cha Kazi and Gatindu South MP) in what pundits say is a bid to push for inclusive talks to avert divisions and split of votes in President Uhuru Kenyatta's backyard.

The trio met at a city hotel and resolved to whip other Mt Kenya leaders into one political caucus ahead of the General Election.

“We have given ourselves three months to consolidate the Mt Kenya vote into one basket before we agree and sit at a round table with other leaders from different regions with whom we share a common goal and manifesto,” said Karua.

The three-party leaders resolved to hold a 'Limuru three' meeting where politicians, church leaders, elders and opinion shapers from the vote-rich region will chart out the way forward.

However, they maintained they had no intention of dissolving their parties to form one vehicle as was the case with the ruling Jubilee Party in 2017.