Tetu constituency will produce the next Nyeri county assembly speaker if UDA wins the majority of seats, Governor Mutahi Kahiga has said.
He said this is in an arrangement crafted by the party to ensure it secures victory in the 9 August polls.
In the arrangement, every constituency produces a county seat candidate to help deliver victory for the party in that particular area.
Such deals are struck in campaigns in Nyeri county, where politicians vying for county seats - governor, deputy governor, senator and woman representative - come from different constituencies to maximise winning chances.
Those constituencies whose politicians are not vying for county level seats are promised the speaker and majority leader’s positions, among other appointments.
Nyeri has six constituencies - Tetu, Kieni, Nyeri Town, Mukurwe-ini, Mathira and Othaya.
Incumbent speaker John Kaguchia is from Mukurwe-ini and will be flying the party’s flag for the MP seat in the constituency in August.
Kahiga from Kieni will be defending the governor’s seat, while Rahab Mukami from Othaya will be fighting to retain the woman representative seat.
Mukurwe-ini has produced Kahiga's running mate, David Kinaniri, replacing current Deputy Governor Caroline Karugu, who has been appointed Denmark's envoy by President Uhuru Kenyatta.
Wahome Wamatinga from Mathira will vie for the Senate seat.
“Wamatinga was campaigning for the governor’s position but after a consensus [before UDA party primaries], we agreed that he vies for the Senate seat so he can deliver the Mathira votes,” he said.
However, the governor, who spoke at Thegu River ward in Kieni on Monday, did not mention the position reserved for Nyeri Town constituency in the arrangement.
Though he also did not disclose who will be the speaker, there are reports that the party is grooming current Tetu MP Gichuhi Mwangi, a lawyer, for the seat.
Gichuhi lost to Geoffrey Wandeto during UDA party primaries but protested that the exercise was marred by irregularities and vowed to defend the seat as an independent candidate.
However, the party leadership prevailed upon him to drop the bid and support Wandeto in a deal struck at Deputy President William Ruto's residence in Karen, Nairobi.
After the meeting on April 21, Ruto wrote on his Facebook page that Gichuhi had conceded defeat.
“The Hustler Nation is grateful to Gichuhi Mwangi, MP Tetu, for graciously accepting the outcome of our party nominations. You have shown true leadership by agreeing to support Geoffrey Wandeto who emerged the winner,” the DP wrote.
Gichuhi has since been working closely with Governor Kahiga and has been inviting him during the launch of Tetu NG-CDF projects.
For instance, on May 11, Kahiga was the chief guest during the thanksgiving and handover ceremony of a school bus to Wandumbi Secondary School in Wamagana ward, Tetu, and the commissioning of the school’s dining hall.
The dining hall and the school bus were projects of Tetu NG-CDF.
Wamatinga attended the event.
Kieni as per 2017 IEBC data has the biggest number of voters in the six constituencies with 109,000, Mathira is second with 99,496, Nyeri town 82,860, Othaya 58,566, Mukurwe-ini 55,310 and Tetu 51,716.
Edited by A.N