Gatundu South MP, Moses Kuria, has always been known to be one of President Uhuru Kenyatta's most fierce defenders but things have not always been so rosy between the two.
During the 1997 General Election, Kuria was among the staunch supporters of Moses Mwihia who was President Kenyatta’s opponent for the Gatundu South parliamentary seat.
Since Uhuru had massive support in the region, Mwihia and his crew, which included Kuria, hatched a plan to discredit him in the eyes of the electorate.
They drew inspiration from a Democratic Party candidate by the name Norman Nyaga, who disappeared a few days to the 1992 election and his family blamed KANU for his ‘kidnapping’.
Nyaga ended up winning the seat with an overwhelming majority, as the stunt turned supporters of his foes to his side.
Using the same plan, Uhuru’s cousin, Ngengi Muigai, Moses Kuria, Samuel Mwihia Kariuki (a nephew of Moses Mwihia) sent Uhuru's rival into hiding.
The voters were told that the powerful Kenyatta family and the then President Daniel Arap Moi regime had kidnapped a peasant candidate who had come to liberate the people from them.
In fact, word spread that the ruling party had killed him and thrown the body into a river.
It is the same Moses Kuria who would emerge as one of the strongest defenders of the junior Kenyatta and even suceeded him as the current Gatundu South MP.
In a phone conversation with Kenyans.co.ke, Kuria revealed that indeed the plan was hatched and was successful.
He stated that it was nothing personal but the fight was against KANU, the party that Uhuru was running on.
Kuria concluded that sometimes they talk about the incident with the president and laugh about it.
