President William Ruto's Senior Economic Adviser, Moses Kuria, has dismissed claims by former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua that the president had taken over the Chama Cha Kazi (CCK).
In a statement on his official X account on Saturday, May 17, Kuria said that the former DP's claims aim to derail the Mount Kenya Region's political trajectory.
Kuria, who claims that he is a 'political senior' to Gachagua, stressed that the DP should refrain from challenging him and should focus on his 'political age mates'.
"Today, you have said CCK is the President's party. You are misleading our people yet again to vandalise parties we have nurtured for four years when you were blindly in love with William Ruto," Kuria said.
"I will not take it lying down. Do not start a war you can not win. Focus on your political age mates like Kimani Ichungwa. I am your political senior friend. Respect your elders," he added.
Kuria claims that in 2022, he tried to convince the former DP to join President Ruto's camp through the party, a suggestion that Gachagua dismissed on 'live TV'.
After he disagreed with Gachagua's move, Kuria further says that Gachagua went ahead and decampaigned his party, labelling it as a 'briefcase party'.
"In 2022, I tried to plead with you to go to William Ruto with our parties just like Musalia, Wetangula, Mutua, and Kingi. You refused, and on live TV, you called my party a briefcase party. You said we should trust William Ruto unconditionally," Kuria said.
"When I refused, you decampaigned me and other CCK candidates. When you fell out with William Ruto, you realised it was wrong to go to Elections without our own party," he added.
According to Gachagua, who spoke in Murang'a on Saturday, the president has already taken over several Mount Kenya Region political parties, including the CCK party, which was formed in 2021 and aims to take over more.
According to the former DP, the president also has a scheme to fund young leaders in the region to run for presidency to divide votes in the region, a plan he claims is similar to what the former President Daniel Moi used to win the 1992 general polls
"The president has planned to form many parties here in the region, and so far, he has already taken Kuria's party and several others. He also plans to have two more in Murang'a," Gachagua said.
"We know this president very well and we are aware that he plans to take our youths and fund them for the presidency. In 1992, Moi played us because people in Murang'a, Kiambu, and Nairobi followed Kenneth Matiba, and then other regions followed Mwai Kibaki, and Moi passed in the middle," he added.
Gachagua launched his long-awaited party, the Democracy for the Citizens Party (DCP), on Thursday, May 15.
