The fight last week in a Murang’a church exposed the deep fault lines in the ruling Jubilee Party where two factions, Tanga Tanga and Kieleweke, are feuding bitterly over 2022 succession politics.
Nyeri Town MP Wambugu Ngunjiri, the man who started the 'kitaeleweka' slogan and seems to have taken an oath to stop Deputy President William Ruto from ascending to power in 2022 explains on Punchline why he loathes a Ruto presidency.
His slogan morphed into a full-blown anti-Ruto movement that seems to be tearing the party apart.
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Last week's church fight brought the Jubilee split to the fore as Kieleweke members took on Tanga Tanga group in an ugly melee that desecrated a holy place with politics.
Tanga Tanga group claims Ngunjiri never left the Orange Democratic Movement, and is in fact, a Raila Odinga mole in Jubilee Party.
This bitter feud within Jubilee seems destined to split the party before the 2022 General Election.
But besides the question of Jubilee unity, Punchline host Anne Kiguta is set to grill the vocal MP on why the Kieleweke group so bitterly opposes Ruto's bid to become president.
Is it another big betrayal in Kenyan politics or is it driven, as the Kieleweke group likes to say, by bid to stop early politicking to allow President Kenyatta deliver on his Big 4 agenda?
Just last month, Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru threw another spanner in the works when she said that Mt Kenya region is ready for a Raila Odinga presidency.
Waiguru, who was hounded out of the Devolution ministry following scathing attacks by Raila over the National Youth Service scandal, has not always had an easy relationship with the Orange Democratic Movement leader.
But surprisingly, she seems to prefer working with him than with the Deputy President.
Besides the church fight in Kiharu, the call for a referendum seems also to have opened a frontline for the two factions to brawl.
The Deputy President has already has already dismissed the report set to be recommended by the Building Bridges Initiative, a creation of the truce between President Kenyatta and Raila.
Ekuru Aukot, who is behind the Punguza Mizigo initiative, had to fight off claims that DP Ruto financed his referendum bill.
Another question Wambugu is likely to face is whether the Kieleweke faction supports the call for referendum and what constitutional amendments they would like enacted around the presidential succession.
This political storm within Jubilee was caused by former Jubilee vice-chairman, David Murathe, in January when he openly questioned the political pact between President Kenyatta and DP Ruto.
Murathe claimed there was no such political pact that guaranteed DP Ruto automatic support for his presidential candidacy by the vote-rich Mt Kenya block.
His stance divided the ruling party two, those who interpreted his comments as betrayal of Dr Ruto by Mt Kenya region and those who are keen to see Deputy President ascend the presidency in 2022.
Those who support Ruto’s candidacy morphed into the group, now dubbed Tanga Tanga after the nickname President Kenyatta gave them for crisscrossing the country to drum up support for DP Ruto.
The second group became known as Kieleweke, and their top agenda has become synonymous with stopping DR Ruto from winning the presidency in 2022.
