Is ODM leader Raila Odinga backed by senior government officials using Nyeri Town MP Ngunjiri Wambugu to frustrate William Ruto’s early campaigns for presidency in Nyeri county?
That is the question in the minds of many after gunshots were fired at Ruto’s church fundraiser in Nyeri recently after the event turned chaotic.
Word on the ground is that the MP received a tidy sum of money from Raila, Internal Security principal secretary Karanja Kibicho and former presidential adviser Nancy Gitau to organise goons to disrupt the function.
Ruto
However, the MP has denied any involvement in the scuffle that pitted Jubilee party factions, Kieleweke and Tangatanga, outside Giakanja Boys Secondary School where the DP was set to preside over the event.
The Nyeri Town MP was again at the centre of a dramatic scene the same day after he blatantly refused to address the function which was graced by the deputy president even after being invited to do so. The function was in his constituency.
In a video shared across multiple social media platforms, Nyeri county woman representative Rahab Mukami can be seen and heard welcoming the legislator to the podium, an offer he declines, leading to loud jeers from the frenzied crowd.
The moment proved to be an awkward one for the MP as he sat just one seat away from the DP, a man he had earlier of hiring goons to burn black T-shirts that bore the phrases ‘Uhuru’s Bedroom’ on the same day.
Wambugu
The MP posted on Facebook that Ruto’s people paid goons to burn Uhuru’s T-shirts in Nyeri to portray the president as weak.
But his sentiments did not go down well with a section of Kenyans who immediately called him out.
“Ruto has gone to Nyandarua, Murang’a and Kiambu but nothing like that has ever happened, why only in Nyeri? We know you and those goons that you have mobilised to do so,” said a DP supporter.
“Uhuru printed the T-shirts? This must have been done by your goons to cover up for some more damage you could cause. Why all this drama Ngunjiri?” another social media user complained.
The incident took place a few hours after Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria claimed that Wambugu was organising goons to disrupt the event.
Already, some Nyeri MCAs have accused the MP of hiring the goons to disrupt the function.
Speaking while refuting reports circulating in the social media that county assembly deputy speaker Samuel Kariuki had gone into hiding following the fracas, the MCAs pointed an accusing finger at Wambugu for being behind the chaos.
Kuria
This is after the Central region commissioner Wilfred Nyagwanga ordered Ruring’u ward MCA to surrender to police lest the law enforcers go for him.
But speaking to the press, the MCAs led by Chinga ward’s Kiruga Thuku said Kariuki had gone to represent the speaker at a function that was to take place at the Coast and had not gone into hiding.
According to social media reports, Kariuki was caught on camera whipping some members of the public during the Giakanja fracas.
But Kiruga blamed Wambugu for the fracas, claiming he is the one who had hired goons to disrupt a church function presided over by the deputy president.
women Rep Rahab Mukami
The MCAs maintained that police should instead arrest and charge the MP for causing chaos and disrupting functions in different parts of Nyeri town constituency.
The MCAs said they will stand by their deputy speaker and any other member of the county assembly who will fall victim of Wambugu’s tactics.
The MCAs at the same time warned Wambugu to stop acting as the political prefect of the Nyeri people especially in regard to their support for Uhuru.
The fundraiser which was convened by Nyeri woman representative Rahab Mukami, turned into a battlefield moments before the deputy president arrived at the AIPCA Mukaro Church.
Since being elected the Nyeri Town MP in the 2017 general election, Wambugu’s name has featured in all the chaos and hooliganism witnessed in the region.
