Chama Cha Kazi party leader Moses Kuria stated President Uhuru Kenyatta lost his support from the Mount Kenya region because of his former school mates.
Speaking during an interview with The Tackle on Monday, September 12, Kuria explained that Uhuru took advice from his comrades, who were not in touch with the plight of the citizens.
The vocal politician noted that while they worked hard from 1997 to 2013 to model the outgoing president into a people's person, and away from the oblivion of a son of a former Head of State, Kenyatta fell off in 2018.
Kuria added that his once very close friend, lost his assertiveness and became gullible to individuals who led him astray from his vision to serve Kenyans.
"Uhuru is like a conflicted child. In 2018, he fell victim to something he always resisted; he fell victim to family shackles, close friends, school mates and people who had no touch from the common mwananchi. They dragged him away from what we had created in 2013," Kuria stated.
Misunderstanding the Peoples' Needs
The former Gatundu South lawmaker noted that while the Head of State has imprinted his legacy by improving the country's infrastructure, he might have misplaced his priorities during his second term.
He compared him to his predecessor, the late Mwai Kibaki, who focused on project 'the road to the pocket' during his first term and focused on development in the second.
"That is the road Kibaki focused on, remember he built Thika Super Highway in his second term. In the first, he lowered interest rates of loans, availed credit instituted a friendly tax regime and allowed people to do business, revived industries,"
"Phase one, Uhuru performed well in terms of continuing with Kibaki's infrastructure programmes and people thought he would embark to the road to the pocket but he chose the road to the handshake," Kuria added.
The economist added that while Kibaki was focused on enabling people from Mount Kenya and across the country to make money, President Kenyatta's second term was hell bent on frustrating anybody who tried to get rich.
"He came up with a policy that questioned why people were making money such that it seemed almost criminal," he stated.
Turning a blind eye to Leaders from the Region
Kuria intimated that the fallout of Mount Kenya leaders began back in 2019. He explained how leaders from the region attempted to salvage Uhuru's reputation after residents began resenting him.
He revealed that with the help of other leaders, he went round all counties in Central Kenya, collecting information on what issues the people needed to be addressed. However, upon presenting them to Kenyatta, the feedback was unexpected.
"He asked us why we were asking for all those things from him like on the pretext that good people yet we would go and attack his government the following day. That was when he told us that his choice for successor would shock everyone" the ex-lawmaker recounted.
Kuria later openly questioned Kenyatta on why he had ignored the region while launching development projects in Raila's backyard. He added that while he thought he would be castigated, other leaders sided with him.
Last Minute Dash to Save Face
The former Kiambu County gubernatorial hopeful claimed that following the mass protests by leaders, Uhuru sent officials from his government to assess what was happening in the region. They confirmed what was tabled by his local MP at the time.
In response, he formed the National Government Development Coordinating Committee which was led by Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i, who became the de facto super CS. On the other hand, Ruto's powers were trimmed.
"He sent his CSs and PSs to look at different issues and projects and they confirmed to him that what I said was true. He had a second chance to redeem himself.
"There was some semblance of people going back on track, but what is government without politics?" he posed.
Kuria noted that the president failed to personally go back to the people and win back their hearts but kept on sending envoys instead. This almost nullified the merits of the projects as the people felt detached from him.
Tasked with leading the economic wing in Ruto's campaigns, the revealed that some of the issues he tried to raise with Uhuru based on his research were the blueprint of the Kenya Kwanza manifesto.
