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Mt Kenya region can't be auctioned, says Governor Wa Iria
May 11, 2021
In Summary
• The governor said a few politicians have been meeting in hotels purporting to discuss the future of the region. • He said the region has an equal right to vie for the Presidency next year saying Kenyans will decide the best candidate.
Murang'a Governor Mwangi wa Iria has said the Gema community cannot be auctioned to the highest bidder in next year's general election. Wa Iria said plans by "a few political leaders" meeting in hotels purporting to discuss the future of the region will be futile. He also said the Mt Kenya region has an equal right to vie for the presidency despite producing three presidents. “You cannot say that a region has produced leaders for too long because it is Kenyans that vote for the best candidate,” he said on Monday. Speaking while issuing scholarship cheques at the county headquarters, Wa Iria said suggesting that the region should not vie for the top seat would subject it to being auctioned by a few politicians for their own interests. The governor said he will vie for the seat as it is the only position left for him after completing his second term next year. The region, he said, has been experiencing an influx of political leaders from other regions hoping to woo locals into supporting them because it will not be in the presidential race. “We will have people vying for the seat. I will personally be on the ballot and I am asking people to vote for me before they consider supporting them. Others are hawking us like cattle in a market place. We will not play second fiddle to anybody next year,” he said. He said those seeking partnerships with region should approach locals genuinely and not as underdogs. A number of politicians have lined up to succeed President Uhuru Kenyatta as the regional kingpin after he completes his second term next year. They include National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi, Wa Iria, Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru, The Service Party leader Mwangi Kiunjuri and former presidential candidate Peter Kenneth, among others. The battle for the regional succession has been aggravated by the failure by the President to openly mentor his preferred heir. In 2018, the President, who had largely steered clear of the succession talks, said his choice for 2022 would shock Kenyans. Uhuru has further indicated he would be actively involved politics after his retirement as President, adding that his silence on the matter should not be taken as weakness. But Wa Iria said the region has the capacity and the will to compete for president as it has the numbers. “In 2017, the UhuRuto team was voted in with over seven million votes [8.2 million nationally], meaning the region has enough votes to clinch the presidency. We cannot all fit in the hotels where they meet to purportedly discuss our future ,” he said. Ahead of the August 2017 General Election, Central Kenya had 2,912,659 registered voters. The governor said the region is being taken for granted to a point where it is becoming a subject of discussion in the debate on the Building Bridges Initiative. “It is appalling that some people are against the extra constituencies just because of what the region stands to get. Why is the region even being discussed? Why can’t they discuss the Bill in its entirety? Anybody blocking something that will bring us more resources should know that we are not together” he said. Edited by EKibii
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