By Moses Kandie
Troubled Bahati Member of Parliament Kimani Ngunjiri’s efforts to meet Deputy President William Ruto to iron out issues between him and Nakuru senator Susan Kihika are believed to have hit a devastating dead end.
The outspoken MP fell out with Ruto’s United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party after he appeared to have endorsed the reelection of Governor Lee Kinyanjui of rival Jubilee party.
Sources indicate that the MP made frantic and endless efforts to meet DP Ruto and the Kenya Kwanza team during the weekend rally in Kakamega but all to no avail.
The party’s top hierarchy is believed to have had enough of the MP and have no problem with losing the seat to rival factions.
Ngunjiri’s endless tiff with senator Kihika who wants to be governor on the UDA ticket has heavily threatened unity in the party.
President Uhuru’s Jubilee party is poised to benefit from the fallout with Governor Lee and Jubilee’s candidate for the Bahati seat Irene Njoki attracting support from the Kenya Kwanza camp.
Kinyanjui was last week forced to defend his meeting with Governor Lee and other Azimio leaders in the county.
“People from Nyanza come to my place and we share tea. We talk so well and the interesting thing they tell me is that they will vote for Raila Odinga as President but the other seats will vary.
“Despite where you come from, here is your home. You cannot choose a neighbour but you can choose a friend. Let us leave the contest at the top. Let us choose a governor we want, an MP, and MCA we want,” he stated.
The Legislator further hit out at Kihika for criticising his meeting with the incumbent governor, Lee Kinyanjui. He insisted that he would not be bullied to choose who he associates with.
“This issue of saying that there is a problem when I meet with governor Kinyanjui should stop. I am a national leader and a peacemaker in Nakuru county.
“Maybe if you see me with a lady, you can speculate that I want to marry, but don’t tell me that when I meet with Lee Kinyanjui then there is a problem. Where is the problem? I can meet and talk with anybody.”
Ngunjiri and Kihika have in recent weeks differed publicly over the Senator’s stand on the six-piece voting of UDA candidates in the county.
Speaking at an interview on June 3, Ngunjiri accused Kihika of causing friction within Ruto’s camp in Nakuru, alleging that many of their members decamped from the party to run as independent candidates.
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