We don’t want union of Gachagua and Kalonzo, say Coast Wiper chiefs

Wiper members in Mombasa are now pushing to revive the party in the county and Coast region, where it has been dormant since the end of the 2022 general election.

This comes amid reservations among some of the party bigwigs in the region about the apparent pact between Kalonzo Musyoka, Martha Karua (Narc-Kenya), Uhuru Kenyatta (Jubilee) and Rigathi Gachagua.

Wiper Coast chairman John Chamia has expressed reservations of a pact with Gachagua.

“We are open-minded. Our policy is very clear, we want a peaceful and prosperous Kenya, where everybody has an opportunity to grow,” Chamia said at a press briefing in Mombasa on Monday.

He said if Karua and Gachagua come with clean slates, they should be welcomed.

“The only problem I have with Gachagua is his past, which is not good,” Chamia said.

He was referring to the former Deputy President’s past as a strict administrator under then President Daniel arap Moi regime.

Gachagua served as a district officer in the 1990s.

“If we are selecting people, we should know how to sieve. In Wiper, before we accept you as one of us, we shall sieve you,” he said.

This comes after Kalonzo attended the opening of Eugene Wamalwa’s new DAP-K headquarters.

Gachagua also attended the event.

The Wiper leader has support ed the former Mathira MP since the beginning of his troubles with UDA that finally culminated in his impeachment.

Gachagua, who is seeking a political partnership with President William Ruto’s critics, is fiercely vocal against the Kenya Kwanza administration.

He has said his new political party would be unveiled next month.

The party is expected to form an alliance with Wamalwa’s DAP-K and Karua’s rebranded People’s Liberation Party (formerly Narc-Kenya).

There is talk of also working with Uhuru’s Jubilee party.

On Monday, Wiper Mombasa coordinator Millicent Odhiambo said Wiper would soon be a formidable force in Kenya’s political scene.

She said with the launch of the nationwide recruitment drive on Monday, people with integrity who genuinely mean well for Kenya would join the party in droves.

“Under the guidance of Kalonzo Musyoka, who we all know has no stain of corruption, we are assured that Wiper will bring the positive change that many Kenyans cry for today.”

She added that the Wiper leader is a tried and tested leader, and he understands the economy, having worked with former President Mwai Kibaki.

Kalonzo, she said, is a leader who loves peace and reconciliation and that is why four times he has sacrificed his own ambitions to support other leaders, notably Raila Odinga.

“But now we have decided come what may he will be going for the presidential seat.”

The Wiper members welcomed the Independent Electoral Boundaries Commission selection panel that was gazetted and sworn in on Monday.

They said the move paves the way for the installation of the electoral commission proper which will set the wheels of election in motion.

Chamia said Wiper supports the formation of the panel.

“For a long time, there had been dispute over one name. But one cannot form a party today and become a member of a key post tomorrow, people who should be determining our elections.”

He said a constituency in Kilifi county has not had an MP since 2022 because of lack of functional electoral commission.

This is also true for some wards across the country whose elected leaders were declared null and void by the courts forcing by-elections.