Bahati MP Kimani Ngunjiri now claims President Uhuru Kenyatta took a political war against him right on his doorsteps, literally.
The Head of State on Tuesday, January 28, toured Nakuru County, where he addressed residents after launching a Ksh5.8 billion cement factory.
In one of his stop-overs at Bahati, the president accused area lawmaker, Kimani Ngunjiri, of constantly attacking him and his style of leadership.
“Bahati constituents, are you the ones who sent him [Kimani Ngunjiri] to come and insult me? What wrong have I committed against you? Kindly, tell him [Kimani Ngunjiri] to leave me alone. He should focus solely on his mandate as an MP, and let me run the country the best way I know,” President Kenyatta said.
Embarrassed
And now, Ngunjiri, who is a die-hard DP William Ruto ally, has issued a quick rejoinder, claiming the president embarrassed him by making a stop-over and “scolding me right outside my house, where my wife and children were”.
“It shocked me when I learnt that the president made remarks attacking my personality when he was right outside my homestead in Bahati. I was taken aback by his claims – that I have been verbally abusing him. No, I have never done that. He and I differ along ideological lines, and there’s nothing personal. The same way he leads a constituency – Kenya, is the same way I lead a constituency – Bahati – which is smaller, though. So, he shouldn’t be the supremo whose ideologies are never challenged. When we see he is doing something wrong, we should tell him,” Kimani Ngunjiri said in an interview with Citizen Television on Wednesday.
Unfulfilled promises
In a statement that he posted on his Facebook page on Tuesday evening, Ngunjiri accused President Kenyatta of reneging on promises he had made to Bahati constituents in the lead-up to the March 4, 2013 and August 8, 2017 general elections.
Ngunjiri said he had “hoped the president’s visit of the area on Tuesday would bring good tidings, but that did not happen”.
“During the last two elections, President Uhuru Kenyatta, among other things, promised the people of Bahati that some roads such as Maili Sita-Kabatini and Mawanga-Murunyu will be tarmacked. We were expecting a clear way forward on this. But, unfortunately, seven years later, the president comes back with more promises that he will schedule a day, come to Bahati and talk with the people on how to go about this. Really?” posed the MP.
Ngunjiri was among the legislators, who, on Wednesday, accompanied DP William Ruto to the burial of the mother of the DP’s friend, Joseph Wainaina Iraya, a prominent businessman in Eldoret.
Ruto’s 2022 presidential bid
Speaking at the interment of Ruth Wanjiku Iraya, Ngunjiri said he is unapologetic for supporting Ruto’s 2022 presidential bid.
“Rift Valley constituents respected President Kenyatta by allowing their lead-politician [William Ruto] play second fiddle to him on condition that we [people from Central Kenya] support Ruto in 2022 [presidential race]. Let us honour that pledge,” he said.
Besides Ngunjiri, others who attended the event held at Lari Constituency in Kiambu County, are: MPs Kimani Ichung’wah (Kikuyu), Rigathi Gachagua (Mathira), Moses Kuria (Gatundu South) Uasin Gishu Governor Jackson Mandago and his Nyandarua counterpart, Francis Kimemia.
