Kuria: Raila can't climb even an anthill without help of OKA principals

Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria. [Wilberforce Okwiri, Standard]

From his hospital bed 3,192 kilometres away in Dubai, Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria believes he is well perched to offer sober analysis of the sway and flow in Kenyan politics.

When he’s not on his bed meditating, he’s in a wheelchair moving around, occasionally stopping to flip pages of his current read.

This week, he had just done and dusted outgoing German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s biography.

A few months ago when we had a similar interview, the Chama Cha Kazi party leader was freewheeling in California, US, in the best of health and with no idea he would have an accident that would change his life.

“I have undergone multiple surgeries, including yesterday when I had a lower limb stem cell surgery,” he tells us during our virtual interview.

In the three months he has been in hospital, he has had time to relax, reflect but also organise. From his bed, he could tell ODM leader Raila Odinga’s Azimio event was “underwhelming and disorganised.”

He does not see Raila getting far minus his ex-OKA brethren.

“If Azimio is to have any realistic chances of presenting a credible challenge in 2022, the irreducible minimum is to have the OKA principals back to the fold before Raila climbs even an anthill let alone a mountain,” he says.

Kuria says being in hospital is a sobering and traumatising experience.

He claims to have shed a tear or two when he saw DP William Ruto receiving his sworn enemies, and when he sees people mocking his burns.

Still, he is daring to bury Jubilee for good in Central when he comes back “strong as a butcher’s dog” next year. The by-election results in Kiago ward in Meru and Mahoo in Taita Taveta add swell to his political juggernaut.

“I can tell you without any fear of contradiction that Mt Kenya region, away from the presidential contest will be a two-horse race between UDA and Chama Cha Kazi,” he says.

Question: You have put quite a show in the recent by-elections, including the latest ones in Taita Taveta and Meru, what are you getting right which others are not?

Answer: We believe in a sales approach as opposed to a marketing approach in campaigns. I now have a trained army of over 200 rugged guerrilla type campaigners whom I have nurtured over the years right from the Mbele Iko Sawa campaigns for Jubilee 2017 to my by-election conquests in Gaturi (Muranga), Juja and Kiambaa.

Unlike other parties that rely on elected members of Parliament, mine is a growing leadership college that will shape the politics of this country going forward. 

In Kiagu, UDA had to pour every coin on the ground and it took a senator and other MPs to apply all manner of tactics on voting day. We also divided our team to donate some of them to my friend Donald Saleri in Mahoo, Taveta. But all in all, we are happy with our performance and as usual after every contest we learn valuable lessons which we shall deploy to improve our electoral army.

Gatundu MP Moses Kuria at American Hospital in Dubai. [Courtesy, Standard]

Q: You said you were supporting the Jubilee candidate in Taveta, what kind of support did you lend, and why didn’t you support the UDA candidate?

A: I believe in nurturing old friends and networks. Donald Saleri has been working with me since the TNA days. In 2017, he was my coordinator for Taita Taveta County in the Mbele Iko Sawa campaign. His original desire was to vie on Chama Cha Kazi ticket but by the time the by-election was announced, I was hospitalised and the party was stuck in the High Court after UDA tried to remove our Meru by-election candidate so we were distracted and Donald took the Jubilee ticket.

But I felt morally indebted to help him so I drew his entire strategy and sent my campaign team to work alongside Naomi Shaban. In Kiambaa, UDA asked me not to field a candidate but also to help them. In Mahoo, they didn’t ask for any help so none was given or denied. I guess it’s all fair game.

Q: In the last few months you have been unwell, a lot has happened, politically. How do you manage to keep in touch with what is happening politically while still nursing your injuries?

A: Being in hospital is a very sobering and traumatising experience. But I am fortunate to have a well-trained party machinery of volunteers and students of my practical leadership college. So, my hospitalisation did not mean the end of our party activities though obviously my physical presence would have added a lot of value. In any case, 70 per cent of politics is about strategy and good organisation.

So, I could still help in these even from the hospital. A politician, even a sick one, is still a politician. I was fortunate that I received visits from virtually all top leaders and presidential candidates in hospital both in Nairobi and Dubai and there has not been some dull moments.

Q: While you were still in hospital, Raila launched Azimio, and declared he was officially in the race. What do you think of the event, and his bid?

A: I watched the Azimio launch. I must say I expected more. It was largely underwhelming and disorganised.  I like the idea of bringing Kenyans together.  No one person can make it alone, the braggadocio, hubris and chest-thumping notwithstanding. 

But I think Raila is starting from a huge deficit. He appears to have lost what he was previously sure of while not sure of what he is chasing currently. That’s a double jeopardy of sorts. If Azimio is to have any realistic chances of presenting a credible challenge in 2022, the irreducible minimum is to have the OKA principals back to the fold before Raila climbs even an anthill.

Q: Who is your preferred presidential candidate for next year? Which way will CCK go?

A: At the moment, our single-minded focus is to build CCK as a formidable party. Believe it or not, people have fears about the future irrespective of who wins the presidential race. What they are looking for is some sort of an insurance policy. Someone to guarantee them that there is going to be a team of men and women who will bat on the side of the people.

A team that will ensure that whoever wins will not destroy this great nation and the future of our children. It is such a heavy burden having to carry that assurance and that is what Chama Cha Kazi is all about. We want to trust people but with caution and some reasonable preparedness for the worst. I take this role to be a spiritual duty. The price of freedom is vigilance.

Raila Odinga speaks with Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria at the Karen Hospital, October 2021. [John Muchucha, Standard]

Q: Things are still fluid in Central. Jubilee prospects appear to be reducing every other day. Azimio is picking up, but UDA is riding high. What’s the CCK tempo?

A: The game is far from starting in Mt Kenya region. There will be lots of forces in the coming weeks- both centrifugal and centripetal. The real game will start in February when state officers leave government to contest seats. What you can take to the bank is that parties are driven by leaders and Captains with a drive and desired result. That, unfortunately, is the curse of Jubilee.

The fact that President Kenyatta is retiring with no clear leader in Jubilee might see it collapse. I can tell you without any fear of contradiction that Mt Kenya region, away from the presidential contest will be a two-horse race between UDA and Chama Cha Kazi.

Q: Sometimes this week, a fundraiser was held where millions of shillings were raised to fund your competitor. Are you aware, and are you defending your seat?

A: I am aware of that fundraiser. Even in 2017, I attended my opponent’s fundraisers and contributed. I am still the Member of Parliament for Gatundu South for the next eight months.  I have said it categorically that my priority is not seeking a position for myself.

My focus is to build CCK as a formidable party that will assure the fearful Kenyans not just in Mt Kenya but Kenya at large that our future and the future of our children is safe and secure irrespective of who occupies State House next year.

Q: The matter of your accident, how are your fairing? What are the doctors telling you?

A: Following the unfortunate accident, I was hospitalised in Kenya for six weeks and now, I have been hospitalised in Dubai for another six weeks. I have undergone multiple surgeries, including yesterday when I underwent lower limb stem cell surgery. I am receiving the best treatment which will continue until February 19, my 51st birthday, when I expect, God willing, to be back to Kenya, energetic and strong as a butcher’s dog.

Q: Many people keep wondering the extent of your injuries when they hear of these surgeries. How grave were the burns?

A: The burns I suffered were quite severe. They are what we call 3rd degree burns on my lower limbs. They could heal on their own but that will take time. The essence of stem cell surgery is to help the body regenerate new cells to replace the ones destroyed by the burns.

Q: People saw you walking, and assumed all was well, what then happened?

A: Actually, the walking was premature. I didn’t realise that till I came to Dubai. Even before I was hospitalised here, I had to seek a second opinion and I got the same verdict. The walking thing ought not to have happened but again being a politician and living in Kenya...

Q: How are you dealing with the negative sentiments all over the internet on your illness?

A: I have become accustomed to negative banter. Once you choose politics as a career you get used to that. If I wasn’t strong, I would have caved in. Some were deeply hurting. I actually shed a tear when I saw the Deputy President receiving my colleague Cate Waruguru to UDA a few days after she publicly wished me the worst through social media. But such is stuff of life. I am not sure it would have been different even if I had pursued my original career wish of being a priest.

Q: Have the manufacturers got back to you following your earlier complaint?

A: I raised the matter with the DCI and the Parliamentary Committee on Health. I choose to focus on my healing and leave the rest to the competent authorities.