National Assembly Majority Leader, Kimani Ichung’wah, played a key role in encouraging President William Ruto to personally reach out to both opposition leader Raila Odinga and former President Uhuru Kenyatta, it has now emerged.
In a rare admission made Wednesday night during an interview on KTN, Ichung’wah disclosed that his counsel to President Ruto came long before the current political détente.
Ichung’wah’s push is seen as part of a broader attempt to steady Kenya’s political landscape, which has been marked by deep divisions since the hotly contested 2022 elections.
“I don’t even know if I should disclose this. Sometime last year I had a very candid engagement with President William Ruto.
Before that, I had a telephone conversation with former Prime Minister Raila Odinga and I told President Ruto to reach out to the former Prime Minister,” Ichung’wah stated.
He further revealed that he did the same regarding former President Kenyatta. “Fast forward, sometime this year, I had another candid conversation with the President and I asked him to reach out to the former President and let us engage.”
The Kikuyu MP noted that his motivation stemmed from a belief in the current administration’s capacity to guide Kenya toward stability and unity. He added that his elevated role as Majority Leader gave him fresh insight into the country’s complexities.
“The Kimani Ichungwah who walked into Parliament in 2013 and was reelected unopposed in 2017 is not the Kimani Ichingwah of today,” he stated, pointing to his expanded perspective after stepping into a national leadership position.
These revelations come amid shifting political sands. Despite past rivalries, Ruto recently supported Raila’s African Union chairmanship bid and included some opposition figures in his broad-based Cabinet.
Meanwhile, former President Kenyatta and Ruto met just this week to discuss national matters, signaling a slow thaw in once-icy relations.
As these leaders interact more openly, Kenyans are watching to see if these engagements will translate into concrete action.
For now, Ichung’wah’s role offers a rare glimpse into the delicate art of political mediation behind closed doors, one that might shape the country’s trajectory for years to come.
