Jubilee Party Secretary-General Jeremiah Kioni claimed that Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua expressed a desire to attend the Limuru III meeting organized by Mt Kenya politicians.
Speaking to a local TV station, the former Ndaragua MP described the Limuru III meeting as a rare opportunity for people from the mountain region to voice their concerns.
“Rigathi Gachagua was very desirous to come to Limuru III, just like Moses Kuria and all these other people in UDA. Limuru III was a rare opportunity that we created for the people from the mountain to speak out. An opportunity that has not been afforded to them since we voted. You can now see we are reading from the same page,” Kioni stated.
However, Kioni denied reports that the meeting was funded by Gachagua, who is claimed to have had a falling out with President William Ruto. Gachagua has been advocating for the Mt Kenya agenda in recent times.
“He (Gachagua) did not. Even now, I am grappling with some of the expenses we incurred,” Kioni clarified.
During the Limuru III meeting, the attending politicians launched a political coalition named Haki Coalition, which aims to advocate for the “one man, one vote, one shilling” revenue-sharing formula, a cause also championed by Gachagua.
Former President Uhuru Kenyatta was appointed as the leader of the coalition.
Kioni mentioned that the leaders who endorsed the coalition will approach Kenyatta with the resolutions of the meeting and request his official acceptance of the nomination.
“We did not have Uhuru Kenyatta as the leader of the Haki coalition, but he will be above those of us who will be in active politics, those of us who believe in the cultural formations of the community. We agreed to too many things that involved the former president. In the Mount Kenya region, we have agreed to come under an umbrella; all the political parties will be under one umbrella led by Uhuru Kenyatta,” Kioni explained.
“We will go as a group of the people who organised Limuru III and present our resolutions to him.”
During the Limuru III meeting, the leaders resolved to work towards uniting the region across three thematic areas: political, social, and economic.
On President Uhuru Kenyatta’s involvement in politics, Kioni rebuked Kenya Kwanza politicians urging Kenyatta to retire from active politics, asserting that the Constitution does not oblige him to do so.
“He never called upon (Mwai) Kibaki to move away from politics nor did he tell Moi to leave politics. We cannot afford this double standard,” Kioni asserted.
