- Karua said she is firmly in the race for Kirinyaga governor race, but maintained that she will continue engaging in the national politics.
- She is one of the most experienced and senior politicians from the region and chairs the Mt Kenya leaders’ forum.
Image: EZEKIEL AMING'A
Narc Kenya leader Martha Karua has downplayed playing second fiddle to one of the top presidential contenders even as she faulted the handshake partners for ‘hurrying’ the passage of the controversial coalition law.
At the same time, Karua criticised the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission for failing to engage stakeholder to discuss the 2022 election preparedness.
Speaking at the party headquarters in Nairobi on Monday, Karua termed as mere speculation talks of becoming a running mate to either Deputy President William Ruto or ODM boss Raila Odinga.
“Let’s stop speculation. There is no seat which you can declare interest or stand as a deputy. You can only stand on a substantive seat,” she said.
Karua said she is firmly in the race for Kirinyaga governor, but maintained that she will continue engaging in national politics.
Recent opinion polls have shown Karua is the most preferred politician from the vote rich Mt Kenya region to deputise either Raila or Ruto in the polls.
Karua is one of the most experienced and senior politicians from the region.
She chairs the Mt Kenya leaders’ forum.
Karua spoke when she received Mureithi Kagai, a Kirinyaga politician eyeing the governor seat and lawyer Gichuke Wa Ribathi who is eyeing a parliamentary seat. The duo joined the party.
The politician also hit out at President Uhuru Kenyatta and Raila for pushing through the Election (Amendment) Bill, 2021 that seeks to create a coalition party, without consulting other political players.
She said while the intention of the Bill may be good "as future governments belong to coalitions" the pace at which it was being pushed in Parliament means it’s meant to secure a short-term gain.
“Why not engage all the stakeholders so that we may move together? The idea may not be bad because government of the future are going to be coalition.”
“So, it may be that what is being proposed is good but give it time so that people can arrive at something that is not just for one time gain but long term,” she said.
The Narc Kenya boss called on Kenyans to vote carefully in the upcoming elections, urging them to avoid euphoria and shun leaders who entice them with handouts.
“We ask people of Kenya not to be impressed by gifts of money or kind by people looking for leadership positions, but to look at the character and track record for each person looking for leadership,” she said.
She took an issue with the IEBC for not engaging stakeholders, including political parties, election observers and NGOs, to discuss the 2022 election preparedness.
She said the Wafula Chebukati-led commission is yet to hold a forum to disclose how it intends to correct the mistakes that led to the nullification of the presidential elections in 2017.
“Since the 2017 nullification of the presidential election, IEBC has not called us to a public discourse on the challenges that made those elections nullified,” she said.
Karua said the Interior CS Fred Matiangi and the entire security team need to up their game and secure every Kenyan, irrespective of their political affiliations, as the country heads to the polls.