Comedian turned aspiring MP Jasper Muthomi, alias MC Jessy, has revealed the intrigues surrounding his failed attempt to secure a UDA ticket for his Imenti South parliamentary bid.
Speaking in an interview with Citizen TV on Thursday, Jessy said he was against dropping his bid in favour of Mwiti Kathaara.
“At no single time had we mutually agreed that Kathaara would fly UDA ticket in the contest. I did not step down voluntarily as was announced. The statement that was communicated [by DP William Ruto] did not reflect my true position,” he said.
Jessy said Ruto and other UDA leaders arranged a meeting to hold negotiations but he was surprised to find out it was about him dropping his political bid.
The comedian had expected that the meeting would be about how they would hold nominations for the UDA ticket. But UDA operatives coerced him to drop his bid, which he did out of respect for the UDA leader.
“Honestly speaking, I never accepted out of will to step down. I had been asked to take part in negotiations on who gets the UDA ticket in South Imenti MP race. As a result, planned primaries in the area were cancelled,” he said.
“After negotiations, I did not agree, I did not want us to do that, you know you must also respect the leaders who are there. We talked to the Deputy President and he asked me to drop my bid, I later confronted him and told him that my community did not want me to support anyone else and give away my ticket,” added Jessy.
“I was talking to my people back home, I told them the Deputy president wanted us to have a talk but not to drop my ticket. We were looking at the first option which is negotiations before going to nominations.”
MC Jessy said he later held a private meeting with Ruto and told him he would run as an independent candidate.
“After the report was released, I went and sat down with DP Ruto himself and told him the truth, because there are leaders in UDA who do not want to see young people as leaders, and I told him I want to go back to the ground and continue campaigning and he said it is okay,” said MC Jessy.
“All along I knew that I was the popular candidate because Jessy was on the ground, he is the one who campaigns for the party, he is the one we see walking with the Deputy President. The mistake I made was actually agreeing to have the negotiations.”
The comedian termed his fallout with UDA as a wake–up call, especially for young aspiring leaders.
“Young people have a task ahead of them, especially those of us who have recently joined politics. We have a lot to learn. Do not trust everyone with your political plans na kama unaonekana hauna kakitu watu watakudhulumu.”
