As the 2022 succession politics takes shape, a group of Jubilee leaders associated with President Uhuru Kenyatta’s side Kieleweke team is on the run doing all it can to stop deputy president William Ruto’s presidential ambitions.
The group which involves some elected and nominated leaders mostly from Mt. Kenya region have been so vocal against Ruto accusing him of sabotaging the handshake and failling to support President Kentatta in building his legacy.
By default, Team Kieleweke are politicians driven by the desire to stop Ruto from succeeding Uhuru.
They have no clear leadership structure and no alternative candidate for the 2022 presidential race. In its ranks are Jubilee politicians without portfolio and many others who lost in the last elections. They have been around and seem to lack freshness and fire in their bellies.
The group is seeking for an alliance with opposition figures, who are smarting from two successive electoral loses.
These opposition politicians hope to use their proximity to power courtesy of the handshake to recoup billions sunk in previous campaigns.
They intend to use this alliance to re-strategize and make a comeback ostensibly with state backing. Their language is not in sync with the Jubilee mandarins.
This grouping is, therefore, not united in vision, traditions, and character. This group consists of more strategists than field operatives. They have many in the boardrooms but few in the trenches.
They constantly pray that Uhuru and Raila will cement their handshake pact and provide leadership to them.
However, they are in a huge dilemma as they face the challenge of the clear command structure and the question of an alternative candidate.
The Jubilee wing of Team Kieleweke does not have a candidate who can upstage the second in command, who doubles as the Jubilee deputy party leader. On the other hand, it would be farfetched if not foolhardy for Jubilee to shop a candidate from the opposition ranks.
The opposition is itself not in unanimity about their leadership and 2022 candidate
The fortunes of Team Tangatanga are on the rise. They have solidified into a team out of fear of government persecution and relative naivety.
The team comprises new MPs, governors, and senators elected through the patronage of Ruto during the acrimonious Jubilee nominations. They have more of their future than past.
These young men and women from Central and beyond know that Uhuru has no political capital to offer in his last term. Being in Tangatanga gives them an opportunity to build themselves and become key players and influence peddlers in the Ruto government.
The team has one absolute and irrefutable leader in the DP who is also their choice for 2022. They, therefore, have no burden of identifying their flagbearer, nor the baggage of old debts to settle.
They are vocal and exude youthful energy, which is necessary for traversing the length and breadth of the country as they sell their candidate.
The pockets and coffers of their benefactor seem deep and large. They are generous and philanthropic in their operations. This has endeared them to the citizens who generally wallow in abject poverty.
For Kieleweke to down foot Hustler’s team, a lot has to be done between now and 2022. Ruto is a wise political genius and it will need to take strategies, well-calculated moves and numbers to outdo Tanga tanga. Without this, Kieleweke should prepare themselves for an opposition phase in 2022