Sibling rivalry within Kenya Kwanza has escalated with claims that Deputy President William Ruto's running mate, Rigathi Gachagua is likely to heavily cost the alliance in the August 9 polls.
Speaking to the media on Wednesday, May 25, Nyandarua gubernatorial aspirant, Kirika Mwangi who is a member of Mwangi Kiunjuri's The Service Party (TSP) stated that Gachagua was too overexcited with his nomination adding that his actions were undermining the influence of the DP in the Mt Kenya region.
The Kenya Kwanza politician accused Gachagua of sidelining affiliate parties by calling on the voters to embrace the six-piece voting pattern.
He cited an instance where he was almost denied an opportunity to speak at a Ruto function stating that he was given the microphone after the DP's intervention.
"When I was invited to speak by the DP during the Nyandarua economic forum, there was a team that was refusing to hand over the microphone. There is a team who was inciting the DP not to give me the microphone.
"It is Gachagua who has been overly excited and that excitement may not assist the Deputy President in his campaigns around the Mt Kenya region," he stated
Kirika warned Gachagua not to be too confident of the Mt Kenya vote acknowledging that they were facing stiff competition from the Azimio la Umoja One Kenya coalition party.
"Let him cool down because he thinks we have already won. It is still a journey as we have close to 70 days to the elections and many voters will cross the bridge before then. Let him assist the DP in looking for votes without discrimination. We need all the votes," he stated.
Speaking on Inooro FM on Tuesday, May 24, Gachagua refuted claims that he was sidelining other Kenya Kwanza affiliate parties. He, however, stated that the parties would not be given preferential treatment as UDA was financing the rallies in Mt Kenya.
He added that the differences within the Kenya Kwanza team were just a case of sibling rivalry and would not result in a fallout within the team.
"You do not expect to come to a political rally organised by the United Democratic Alliance (UDA), where our aspirants have spent money to mobilise attendance, and expect to be well embraced,' he stated.
Amidst the rivalry between UDA and TSP, Ruto is expected to hold a meeting with UDA politicians after concerns were raised over the party's popularity in the county given the low turnout at their economic forum on May 20.
