Interior cabinet secretary Fred Matiang’i will have to wait a little bit longer before he gets the nod for the presidency from opposition leader Raila Odinga following fears that the former prime minister’s right hand men are far from digesting the idea.
And to add insult to an injury, Matiang’i who has risen to become the Mr Fix it is yet to get the nod for vying for the top seat from his mentors Reuben Oyondi and Simeon Nyachae who are peacefully enjoying their political retirement.
Infact, during the last general elections, Nyachae was just hearing of his son Charles Ayacko campaigning for the senatorial seat in Kisii county but remained mum without giving any advice just like he is watching Matiang’i who was his personal assistant during his heyday.
As to why he stopped working with senior Jubilee leaders led by Chris Obure and Walter Nyambati who vied for the gubernatorial seat in Kisii and Nyamira counties during the last general elections and chose to work with opposition politicians at the watch of his boss Uhuru Kenyatta is raising eyebrows.
Raila
Matiang’i is widely believed to have denied Raila victory in 2017 and forgiveness wholeheartedly from the former premier will be a miracle and more particularly bearing in mind that he hails from a community with a history of distributing votes to all candidates who will be in the ballot.
CS Matiangi
It is an understood fact that in Luo Nyanza, for one to get Raila’s ears, he or she must have political connections with James Orengo and Anyang Nyong’o and the Luo council of elders executive committee while in Kisii, the Nasa mandarins led by ODM national treasurer Timothy Bosire are the political chain to guarantee one gets endorsement from the veteran politician.
It should be remembered that since Nyachae was bundled out of politics following a humiliating defeat in the Nyaribari Chache parliamentary seat by Robert Monda, he left the direction of the Kisii political leadership to the dogs hence the similar humiliating defeat of his son Charles for the Kisii county senatorial seat by Sam Ongeri even after teaming up with longserving politician Chris Obure among others.
Recent outbursts by politicians James Ongwae and John Nyagarama who are merely 10 years in the country’s political arena that Matiang’i should go for the presidency is seen as dishonesty of the highest order as all their opponents have decided to stand the opposite.
Observers aver that the marriage of the top county leadership with the CS is to shield them from the economic crimes. His critics sympathetic to deputy president William Ruto are weighing on the weakness to clobber him and leave them in the political wilderness.
The nail he has fixed on his political coffin is coming up with a pre-arranged line-up of leaders who will take over power in Kisii and Nyamira counties and those who have been sidelined and have vowed to fight back to the bitter end.
In Kisii county, Matiang’i is rooting for Ongeri as the next governor with his deputy being Kitutu Chache South MP Richard Onyonka with Janet Ongeri retaining her position of women representative with the senate seat going to South Mugirango.
Governor Ongwae
In Nyamira, Borabu MP Ben Momanyi has been earmarked for the post of governor while former Kitutu Masaba MP Mwancha Okioma who coincidentally hails from Matiang’i’s Botabori clan is marked as the deputy governor.
Senator Okong’o Omogeni will retain is seat just like Jerusha Momanyi has been spared to retain his seat of county women representative this balancing the equation of the two clans of Bogetutu and Bogirango in Nyamira county sharing two slots each.
Bogirango clan enjoys the seat of the governor, his deputy and senator plus several senior positions owing to disorganisation and political differences by leaders from their Bogetutu counterparts.
What awaits the governors, senators and women representatives in Kisii and Nyamira counties with whom Matiang’i is dining with at the moment despite piled up complaints of their misuse of public resources will automatically start rolling in mid 2021 when Kenya would have cleared most of the economic messes and geared towards the 2022 general elections.
It is telling that the Jubilee politicians have decided to give Matiang’i their political backs even during the hour of need hence his desire to reach State House through the opposition.
To bring political confusion, Matiang’i took all the security detail from Ruto’s functions in Gusiiland and instead started enjoying the same with the latest being the funeral of former Nyaribari Masaba MP the late Hezron Manduku and Jubilee loyalist Maurice Magara who were both buried the same day in Kisii county
