It took some convincing to get Kirinyaga governor Anne Waiguru behind Deputy President William Ruto.
On Tuesday morning, Waiguru officially decamped to UDA, declaring that she is now part of the hustler movement. She had hinted at this eventuality for weeks, saying that supporters on the ground were urging her to do so.
She even claimed that it would be almost impossible to win on a Jubilee ticket in 2022, proclaiming the party as dead.
However, perhaps the people with the most influence when it came to her decision making, were members of her family.
Speaking at the Deputy President’s official resident in Karen, Waiguru revealed that her mother and last born son were critical in moving the needle. They told her in no uncertain terms that they are hustlers.
“My mother told me ‘keep moving around, but we have already moved to Ruto’s side’. [My] last-born son, while having breakfast with me sometime back, told me, ‘Mum, you know we are hustlers?'”
The governor added that she could not be ignorant and go against her people. “I can not try to be ignorant and go against my people. I can’t vote myself in. I am listening to what they want. Do they want me to run for governor a second term?”
”The Bible says when you lack wisdom you ask for it. I have asked for it and I have listened and checked with many members seated here,” Waiguru said.
“I have asked if it is betrayal if I moved but the message that I was given by everybody is that in politics, you must be very careful to stay relevant and listen to the people,” she added.
She recounted how the ‘ground’ had turned hostile towards her, sometimes embarrassing her during public events.
“People never waited for me to talk in meetings. They would start shouting me down severally. It was tough and humiliating. They told me you must push the wheelbarrow or you will go home, we do not care about your development,” she said.
Read: Kirinyaga Woman Rep. Wangui Ngirici Reacts To News of Waiguru Joining UDA
