Mathira Member of Parliament Rigathi Gachagua has sent a stern warning to Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru, following her recent sentiments hinting at joining United Democratic Alliance (UDA).
Gachagua has first praised her act of courage for hinting at decamping from the ruling Jubilee Party to the party associated with Deputy President William Ruto.
Affirming the party's readiness to welcome Waiguru, the outspoken lawmaker promised Waiguru a free and fair nomination process in her bid to defend her gubernatorial seat in the 2022 General Election.
However, Gachagua has warned Waiguru against ignoring Kirinyaga residents' party of choice, telling her that the wrath of the people is more ruthless and long term than State persecution.
He has warned Waiguru that should she fail to honour residents' call for her to join UDA she risks losing her seat in the upcoming polls.
"We applaud Governor Waiguru for the courage, I know they will pester her here and there. But it is better for her to be pestered by police than be punished by citizens. You know the citizens' punishment is legal it has no appeal once they are done with you it is five years, but this thing of being apprehended on Monday, Friday is a simple thing," Rigathi told Waiguru.
The Mathira MP who once served as President Uhuru Kenyatta's personal assistance further extended the welcoming arm to other Jubilee members stating that UDA's window is wide open for them.
"UDA is a very popular party here and we want to say that all those who are coming are welcome, our party is very democratic, very wide and we will accommodate everybody," he remarked.
Waiguru's hint at joining UDA has ignited political rivalry in the region. Kirinyaga County Woman Representative Purity Ngirici is among the closest allies of Ruto who are seeking to battle it out with Waiguru.
Ngirici has already made her bid and has been on several campaign trails to popularise herself to the Kirinyaga electorates.
On her part, Ngirici has maintained that she is ready to face Waiguru in a fair UDA nomination if she makes real her decision to ditch the Jubilee party.
Apart from Ngirici, NARC-Kenya party leader Martha Karua is also in the race to try and unseat Waiguru. Karua has also made it bold that she will be taking her second stab at the Kirinyaga gubernatorial seat after losing in the 2017 General election even after staging several court cases.
Waiguru had earlier admitted that she would lose the Kirinyaga seat if she risked defending it on a Jubilee party ticket.
“The truth of the matter is that defending my seat if the polls were held today, would be very difficult, and that is the truth of the matter, Jubilee needs to look internally at its issues in order to be acceptable to the people of Mt Kenya,” Waiguru stated.
She added, “If I ran today on a Jubilee ticket and someone else ran on a different party, even if people felt I had performed, it would be hard to convince them to vote for me.”
