David Murathe: The man whose support for Uhuru cost him his parliamentary seat

Note: This article was first published on July 27, 2019.

By Wahome Thuku.

Until several weeks ago, more than 50 percent of Kenyan population may not have heard the name David Murathe.

Murathe is not the colorful, flamboyant politician that graces your television screen every breaking day.

After losing his Gatanga parliamentary seat to Peter Kenneth in 2002, nothing much seemed to have been left of the man.

Seventeen years later Murathe is a household name again. Today no political analyst in Kenya will ignore and dismiss. Because the more you ignore and dismiss him, the more you realise the risk of doing so.

Murathe belongs to the old order. To the section of politicians that weathered the KANU dictatorship having been detained by the Moi administration over his political activism.

During the 2002 elections that shook KANU to the ground, Murathe stood with the party presidential candidate Uhuru Kenyatta when almost the entire Mount Kenya region rallied behind Mwai Kibaki of NARC. That cost him the Gatanga seat he had only held for one term, never to recapture it.

Since then, however, Murathe established himself as Uhuru’s closest confidant, the man who shares his mind, heart and voice. That has worked pretty well under Uhuru’s Presidency, particularly with Murathe as the Jubilee Party chairman.

Murathe is believed to be Uhuru’s unofficial spokesman. That what he says will have come from the President in one way or another.

And he has capitalised in building that fame. In recent weeks, he has hit headlines, communicating, albeit unofficially, what the President will or will not do ahead or and during the 2002 elections. 

At one time, he said he had kept quiet because the President had asked his political followers to keep quiet. The media has helped to solidify the narrative that he, indeed, speaks for politician Uhuru.

With his newly launched onslaught against Deputy President William Ruto, Murathe is seen as the man appointed to bell the marauding cat that is the DP. He is believed to be the guy standing like a shadow between Uhuru and Ruto.

To those who claim to stand on Uhuru’s side, Murathe is the guy to tame William ahead of time. But to those who pledge loyalty to the DP Murathe would be irrelevant without the DP to fight. He is reviving his political career using the name Ruto.

That is how the debate will be split this Sunday evening when Murathe takes to the ring to face no-nonsense K24 host Ann Kiguta on Punchline.

Following his resignation as chairman of the Jubilee Party early this year, many critics ruled that Murathe he had hit his lowest and lost the only platform to attack the DP. But it’s evident that he has sustained his relevance and his outspoken nature.

Going forward, Murathe is that one man appointed to sustain the anti-Ruto campaign. To be the persisting thorn in the DP’s flesh.

That may, however, change along the way, depending on how the political tide will move.

Should Uhuru support Ruto as his successor ahead of 2002 polls, Murathe will have no choice but to toe the line and support accordingly.

But should Uhuru throw his weight behind another candidate, Murathe’s voice as Uhuru’s mouthpiece will be even louder and the sting will be even more painful.

Only time will tell how that will go. For now, Murathe remains the person placed to check on the Ruto wave. He is the one man appointed to say what Uhuru will not say openly.

At least that is what many of us believe, regardless of right or wrong we may be about that perception.