Muturi: Why I disagree with Gachagua's political approach

Democratic Party (DP)leader Justin Muturi has elaborated why he is opposed to Democracy for Citizens Party (DCP) leader Rigathi Gachagua on several issues, such as the formula to identify a Presidential candidate and his calls to invite political parties around Mt Kenya with a view to forming a coalition.

Muturi has also reiterated his earlier condemnation of Gachagua’s remarks, where he has repeatedly claimed that the Mt Kenya region was behind the DCP party, saying the remarks appeared to suggest that other political parties had no say in the negotiation table.

In an exclusive interview with The Sunday Standard, Muturi said his decision and those of other party leaders, including Peter Munya (PNU), Lenny Kivuti) Development Empowerment Party (DEP) was informed by Gachagua’s claims on July 26 at a function in the Catholic Church in Imenti Central where he reportedly urged four political parties to fold.

“I personally read that story on Monday 27th, and I thought, first of all, it was a mistake; it's a misreporting. I decided I'm not going to comment on it, but I was waiting and hoping that maybe Gachagua or somebody from his party who was present with him on that occasion would perhaps correct or even call me, reach out to me and tell me that what is reported is not correct,” he said.

According to Muturi, it was him who reached out to his colleagues after he was informed by an aspirant from Kawira Mwangaza’s Umoja na Maendeleo Party (UMP) who reportedly informed him that she had been informed by Gachagua’s orderlies that she was popular but in a wrong political party, remarks Muturi interpreted to be undermining of other parties within the Opposition.

“The lady felt extremely embarrassed, and when those stories started coming up, we thought, this is not right. The country, as we all know, is a multi-party democratic state. We have always had many parties in the country. In fact, today, I think there could be close to a hundred or more than a hundred.”

He added, “Why would anybody single out our four parties to dissolve and join him? We thought it was a bad taste, and therefore it was necessary to call him out and tell him that coalitions are very sensitive. People must always be sensitive to what they say because you may be saying something lightly, but it could have far-reaching consequences and ramifications,’ he said.

He said he saw no reason to reach out to Gachagua since it was him who first framed the story and that he was obligated to reach out to his colleagues to set the record straight.

“I thought I would give him that period because it was something which was reported widely in the newspapers and for me to reach out to him, I think I would be lowering my dignity. It was him who framed the story because if he said it, then it was reported as he said it, but if that's not what he said, after seeing it, it would be helpful to reach out to us to say, no, what has been reported is not correct,” he said.

He added that Gachagua, on many occasions, had failed to recognize his presence in public rallies.

Additionally, Muturi categorically opposed Gachagua’s calls where he urged him to convene a meeting for all the political parties within Mt Kenya and possibly form an alliance dubbed Hyena’s coalition, maintaining that the Opposition leaders ought to focus on establishing a national political alliance and not a village one.

“I lead a party, he leads a party, and actually one of the things that he said is that all those parties will be at liberty to field candidates for all the other positions. Parties in the Mt Kenya region are just a part of the various parties in Kenya. They're 32, you can imagine; if you start summoning all the parties, you'll find yourself mixing leopards and goats. So we have to be very careful,” Muturi said.

He said Gachagua’s proposal could not augur well for democracy, saying it should suffice that every party is at liberty to conduct individual campaigns, adding that ‘I think it is not even necessary.’

On Gachagua’s position that the Opposition should wait until the homestretch, Muturi said adhering to his proposal would give President William Ruto a win on a silver platter, saying they would not get time to meet the strict timelines laid out by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).

He explained that the proposal to name the Presidential candidate by May would work against the Opposition since it would coincide with the timelines for the Presidential candidates to submit their nomination papers to the electoral agency and must have collected 2000 signatures in not less than 24 counties.

“Now, if we wait until that time, it means that all of us who have declared interest then will not be ready. We have to begin moving, getting 2,000 signatures in no less than 24 counties, all of us. So it means that all of us then must set up secretariats working exclusively for ourselves, not for the joint candidate. If we delay the decision of the presidential flag bearer, we run the risk of being unprepared.

Muturi said hurried decisions were to blame for the Democratic Party loss in the United States election in 2024 following its decision to replace former President Joe Biden with Kamala Harris and the 2016 loss after the party took time to decide who between Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton would be the party’s Presidential candidate.

He added that the 2002 moment in Kenya’s Presidential election that Gachagua referred to while justifying his reasoning of not naming their Presidential candidate could not be equated with the next year’s general election.

Gachagua had maintained that Mwai Kibaki was named the Opposition’s flagbearer two months before the election saying there was no hurry to name their candidate.

However, Muturi said the dynamics had changed as the election would be held under the timelines of the 2010 Constitution, which was not in place and which stated about 50 plus one per cent for a Presidential candidate to be declared a winner.

“At that time, the constitution did not require 50 plus 1. It did not require 25% in at least 24 counties. All it required was first past the post which is the reason why the second President Daniel Moi had been winning against his disjointed opposition. Because it didn't matter that even in 1992 and 1997, the combined votes by the individual opposition presidential candidates put together were about twice what Moi used to get through.

He added, “We have the 2010 constitution. It has its own peculiar and stringent requirements. So when you tell me that we can name a presidential candidate running it in May, then you don't know what it entails. Some of us have been involved in these campaigns. We need teams and think tanks, working on a common agenda of a new government, a new administration, that will give confidence to the people. That will address the issue of rule of law, constitutionalism, independence of institutions, and the economy.

He said failing to move first and name a Presidential candidate by this year meant giving Ruto the victory on a silver platter and said if the Opposition waited until May, he would not participate in the campaigns.

“If we wait until May, I can assure you, I think I will not even bother to participate because we will have given him a victory on a silver platter. We are going to have over 55,000 polling stations in the 2027 general election. Even on the bare minimum, that means you must have not less than 110,000 agents. You are not just going to pick people whom you have not interacted with,” Muturi maintained.

He said agents were a critical pillar in the Presidential elections and identifying them early was key to reducing the risks of using double agents to work for the interests of rival political formations.

“It was shown here in the recent Olkalou by-election.  The constituency has 144 polling stations, meaning the Jubilee Party had 288 agents but the candidate got 198 votes, meaning some of the agents did not even vote for their candidate.

"All these will look simple, but you can imagine if you multiply that throughout the republic; 110,000 agents is just a bare minimum. Those people, you need to have meetings with them, and the teams will need to move from Nairobi, go to the various regions, have meetings with these people, create rapport, and build confidence among them. That will not happen if you wait until May,” he said.

According to Muturi, the justification that naming the Presidential candidate could expose him or her to unwarranted attacks by the government do not hold water, saying nothing prevented the President from saying or doing anything to the Opposition leaders.

“Who doesn't Ruto know? We knew Ruto was going to run for president in 2013. After 10 years. The late Raila Odinga, Kalonzo Musyoka, Moses Wetangula, Musalia Mudavadi, they knew that the person they were going to face in 2022 was going to be Ruto,” he observed.

Despite Muturi’s ideological differences with Gachagua, Muturi described him as humble, listening and reasonable while appearing in closed-door meetings, and that the character disappears during his public engagements.

“When we are together, Rigathi is a very humble man behind the camera. I think the cameras excite him; I think you people, and then the crowds, excite him, but he's a very humble man.  We have had several meetings quietly; he's not the kind of, that overbearing,” he said.

“You sit down with Rigathi, and you discuss things, and he's reasonable. He will state his position, his point of view, which is very democratic, and everybody else is at liberty even to contradict him; in fact, you can never even hear him raise his voice over what other people's suggestions are, but cameras make him get some other things, and then he forgets that he has other colleagues.”

He, however, maintained that the Opposition leaders were working together with the common goal of unseating Ruto in next year’s elections, saying the Principals would meet yesterday for consultations.

“Two weeks ago I was in Nanyuki opening my party office and meeting people and later did my public rallies around Nanyuki town. The other weekend on the 16th, I will be opening my party branch office in Muranga. You saw Fred Matianyi was busy in Nyamira; Gachagua was in Kajiado yesterday to receive MCAs from Wiper,” he added. 

He said on 22nd of this month, the Opposition will conduct a joint rally in Busia and Trans Nzoia and later attend a memorial service of the former Vice President Kijana Wamalwa.

While addressing the objection by a section of Opposition leaders to join the Azimio coalition, Muturi, who is among the key leaders who are in the process of rebranding the coalition’s Constitution, said they would review the deed of agreement and change some of the contentious issues to accommodate all parties.

“We are talking about reconstitution and rebranding. Those are some of the things that people can place on the table and say look, this puts you in an advantageous position relative to ourselves, and then we can discuss. Everything is out for debate and agreed upon,” he added.

Some of the leaders within the Opposition, such as People’s Liberation Party (PLP) leader Martha Karua, whose party exited the Azimio coalition, and Gachagua have openly resisted calls to join the coalition, suggesting that they needed to form a new coalition party.

He remained upbeat that with a clear strategy on a road map to next year’s election, the Opposition would oust the Kenya Kwanza administration even as he dismissed Deputy President Kithure Kindiki’s calls to court him, Kivuti and Munya back to the government.

“I am never interested in working with Ruto. Kindiki has forgotten that before leaving government, I had written three letters to Ruto telling him, if you do not, in cabinet, have an agenda on extrajudicial killings, abductions, I will never attend a cabinet meeting of your government. Kindiki must be having a short memory.

He added, “If we can't remove Ruto, I don't want a job, not in his government, and I'm comfortable; I'm okay to stay without a job,” he added.

He claimed Kindiki had no moral obligation to unite the Mt Kenya region since he was allegedly involved in a legal battle to delink the Tharaka community from the Meru community.

He was referring to a court battle that saw the Tharaka community officially delinked and recognized as a distinct tribe separate from the Meru community during the 2019 Kenya Population and Housing Census data compilation, following historical pushes for independent identity.

“Kindiki went to court himself in 2016 and filed a case to declare the Tharakas as non-Merus, and that is why in the census of 2019, the Tharakas were counted separately from Merus. That is why today, he has a problem going to Meru. Why does he want to benefit from Meru? He posed.