Kirinyaga Governor Anne Mumbi Waiguru has seemingly shifted the political tide after she officially decamped to the United Democratic Alliance outfit led by Deputy President William Ruto on Tuesday, October 26.
According to the incumbent governor, her decision was based on requests from the people of Kirinyaga who mounted pressure on her to embrace the UDA brand of politics.
The bold move has ultimately set the stage for a supremacy battle with Kirinyaga Woman Representative and UDA diehard Purity Ngirici who is also seeking to unseat Waiguru in the 2022 elections.
In what might be a recipe for disaster, the DP has the unenviable task of navigating through the storm between the two in a bid to ensure they remain united.
Speaking to Kenyans.co.ke, political analyst David Makali noted that the likely scenario would pit Ngirici as the favourite to retain the UDA ticket.
"The defection of Waiguru will not deter Ngirici from pursuing her ambition to be governor. She (Ngirici) has done a lot of ground work and I think in any negotiations that would happen, she has the upper hand so she is likely to retain the UDA ticket. Added to the fact that the track record for Waiguru has been problematic, she has opposition on the ground which I don't think UDA would want to run against," he stated.
In regards to Waiguru shelving her ambitions to defend the gubernatorial seat for the UDA running mate slot, Makali noted that it was an unlikely possibility.
"It may not be necessarily running mate because that position is very delicate. The considerations are really big, hence it's not easy for her to come and seat on top of that deck without creating a bit of unease within the outfit," he stated.
He noted that Ruto would ultimately give a government position to the incumbent governor in order to allow Ngirici to get the UDA ticket- essentially pitting the Woman Representative against Narc Kenya party leader Martha Karua.
"In any case the battle will be between Ngirici and Martha Karua. Likelihood, is that both of them could miss the governorship because I suspect there might be another entrant in that race, a man, who might overtake them and get that seat. This is because of the ground's growing disenchantment with the leadership that Waiguru has created, which might not be easy to wipe out and that is going to affect Karua as well. But as it is those who are in the race, it's basically a race between the two," he stated.
Political analyst Dr. Barrack Muluka also intimated that the DP had a tough balancing act within the Mt Kenya region and in the country as a whole in order to satisfy the various interests and ambitions.
"It's difficult to tell because we don't know the conversations that they had before. We know Ngirici has been very close to the DP but Waiguru has affirmed that she listened to her people on the ground."
"Obviously the DP must have had a word with Ngirici to tell her of the moves that were to be made and the implications. So, we have to wait and see. In an ordinary functional democracy, we'd expect they go through the party primaries, but in politics, people believe in self interests."
Muluka affirmed that the tough task for the DP would spread across the Mt Kenya region and essentially across the country as various politicians would stake their claim and advocate for their own interests.
