{"id":15748,"date":"2020-10-11T20:16:43","date_gmt":"2020-10-11T20:16:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.com\/kenya\/?p=15748"},"modified":"2020-10-11T20:16:43","modified_gmt":"2020-10-11T20:16:43","slug":"muthama-faces-tall-order-selling-ruto-in-ukambani","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/muthama-faces-tall-order-selling-ruto-in-ukambani","title":{"rendered":"Muthama faces tall order selling Ruto in Ukambani"},"content":{"rendered":"

Author:\u00a0JACOB NGETICH\u00a0<\/strong>
\nAfricaPress-Kenya:<\/strong> Former Machakos Senator Johnstone Muthama has set himself up for a herculean task of selling Deputy President William Ruto\u2019s presidential candidacy in Ukambani ahead of the 2022 General Election.<\/p>\n

Mr Muthama is seeking to deliver Lower Eastern\u2019s two million votes to Dr Ruto, his newfound political ally.<\/p>\n

For over two decades, Wiper leader\u00a0Kalonzo Musyoka\u00a0has remained de facto leader for Ukambani and his political journey and aspirations have received near-tacit support from the community.<\/p>\n

From his sojourns as Kanu organising secretary to Orange Democratic Movement Kenya (ODM-K) that was later rebranded to Wiper, the Kamba community has given Kalonzo unequivocal support that has earned him a seatt on the power sharing table.<\/p>\n

Now Muthama, his erstwhile confidant, is seeking to\u00a0wrestle the support from Kalonzo\u00a0or better still shepherd him to support Ruto in the 2022 race.<\/p>\n

Formidable team<\/strong><\/p>\n

An insider in the Muthama think tank, and who sought anonymity, said the former senator is seeking to bag the support of Makueni\u00a0Governor Kivutha Kibwana,\u00a0several former and current MPs as he seeks a formidable team.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are high-level talks that hope to bring on board a number of former and elected leaders in Wiper and other small parties from the region, including CCU and Narc, to ensure the team for 2022 gains momentum,\u201d said the source.<\/p>\n

Muthama, perhaps knowing how to deal with Kalonzo, has declared that the Wiper leader will follow him and not the other way round.<\/p>\n

He said together with the DP, they were working on a party that will run over the region and Kalonzo will be forced to make a deal with them.<\/p>\n

For any presidential candidate, the two million Ukambani votes is a sizeable chunk and Muthama\u2019s assignment will be to deliver the votes for his new political friend.<\/p>\n

In the last three elections, Muthama has been Kalonzo\u2019s confidant and is said to have bankrolled his campaigns, a fact the Wiper leader recently dismissed.<\/p>\n

Before their fall out after the NASA defeat in 2017, Muthama, a grassroots mobiliser, was seen as the right hand man for Kalonzo and his word was taken to be that of the Wiper leader.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will campaign and get votes even if it is in the mouth of a lion. We will be thorough and resolute in seeking votes,\u201d Muthama told a gathering in Tala early last week.<\/p>\n

For a month, Muthama has hosted three delegations of leaders, political aspirants, professionals and businessmen for strategy meetings at his Mua home in Machakos County and other consultative meetings in Kangundo and Matungulu constituencies.<\/p>\n

Two weeks ago, Muthama hosted\u00a0MPs allied to Ruto\u00a0including Victor Munyaka (Machakos Town), Fabian Muli (Kangundo), Nimrod Mbai (Kitui East) and Vincent Musyoka (Mwala) where the leaders vowed to dethrone Kalonzo as the region\u2019s de facto political kingpin.<\/p>\n

The former Machakos senator had told Kalonzo a few months ago that he will have to follow their political course or be left out.<\/p>\n

But Kalonzo has indicated that he will trust himself only this time round and will go for the top seat in\u00a02022 General Election.<\/p>\n

Last month during the funeral of a son of late veteran politician Mulu Mutisya at Ngamba village in Wamunyu, Machakos County, Kalonzo accused Muthama of misleading him twice to support Raila, by default signaling the strong influence the former senator had on him.<\/p>\n

\u201cI will not allow you to mislead me a third time because you have failed me twice. I will be my own negotiator in national politics,\u201d Kalonzo told Muthama.<\/p>\n

Kalonzo\u2019s reaction<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWith all my experience and international standing, do you honestly think that I am supposed to support Ruto who is of much less experience?\u201d wondered Kalonzo.<\/p>\n

Makueni Senator Mutula Kilonzo Junior, however, says Kalonzo was still the man to beat in Ukambani.<\/p>\n

\u201cWait and see what we will have in 2022. Those talking now will be gnashing their political teeth because of their misinformed decision,\u201d said Mutula Junior.<\/p>\n

But Munyaka said time for over-confidence on the part of Kalonzo supporters was gone and Ukambani was slowly walking away from the grip of the former vice president.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat project has Kalonzo brought to Ukambani all that time he has been at the helm? It is time the community charts a different course,\u201d said Munyaka.<\/p>\n

His Kitui Rural counterpart Makali Mulu, however, said it is Kalonzo who had the ultimate say in Ukambani and any other person would not make any meaningful impact.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wish them well in their endeavour. But I can tell them for free that they are set for an uphill task,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Author:\u00a0JACOB NGETICH\u00a0 AfricaPress-Kenya: Former Machakos Senator Johnstone Muthama has set himself up for a herculean task of selling Deputy President William Ruto\u2019s presidential candidacy in Ukambani ahead of the 2022 General Election. Mr Muthama is seeking to deliver Lower Eastern\u2019s two million votes to Dr Ruto, his newfound political ally. For over two decades, Wiper […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":15736,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,8,12],"tags":[1103,4330,312],"class_list":["post-15748","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-homepage-english","category-policy","tag-2022-general-election","tag-johnstone-muthama","tag-william-ruto"],"yoast_head":"\nMuthama faces tall order selling Ruto in Ukambani - kenya<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Former Machakos Senator Johnstone Muthama has set himself up for a herculean task of selling Deputy President William Ruto\u2019s presidential\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/muthama-faces-tall-order-selling-ruto-in-ukambani\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Muthama faces tall order selling Ruto in Ukambani\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Former Machakos Senator Johnstone Muthama has set himself up for a herculean task of selling Deputy President William Ruto\u2019s presidential\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/muthama-faces-tall-order-selling-ruto-in-ukambani\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"kenya\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-10-11T20:16:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sites\/28\/2020\/10\/muthama_faces_tall_o5f81fe8e2c320.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"594\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/muthama-faces-tall-order-selling-ruto-in-ukambani#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/muthama-faces-tall-order-selling-ruto-in-ukambani\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Muthama faces tall order selling Ruto in Ukambani\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-10-11T20:16:43+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/muthama-faces-tall-order-selling-ruto-in-ukambani\"},\"wordCount\":773,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/muthama-faces-tall-order-selling-ruto-in-ukambani#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sites\/28\/2020\/10\/muthama_faces_tall_o5f81fe8e2c320.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"2022 General Election\",\"Johnstone Muthama\",\"William Ruto\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"homepage-english\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/muthama-faces-tall-order-selling-ruto-in-ukambani#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/muthama-faces-tall-order-selling-ruto-in-ukambani\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/muthama-faces-tall-order-selling-ruto-in-ukambani\",\"name\":\"Muthama faces tall order selling Ruto in Ukambani - kenya\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/muthama-faces-tall-order-selling-ruto-in-ukambani#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/muthama-faces-tall-order-selling-ruto-in-ukambani#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sites\/28\/2020\/10\/muthama_faces_tall_o5f81fe8e2c320.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-10-11T20:16:43+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"description\":\"Former Machakos Senator Johnstone Muthama has set himself up for a herculean task of selling Deputy President William Ruto\u2019s presidential\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/muthama-faces-tall-order-selling-ruto-in-ukambani#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/muthama-faces-tall-order-selling-ruto-in-ukambani\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/muthama-faces-tall-order-selling-ruto-in-ukambani#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sites\/28\/2020\/10\/muthama_faces_tall_o5f81fe8e2c320.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sites\/28\/2020\/10\/muthama_faces_tall_o5f81fe8e2c320.jpg\",\"width\":800,\"height\":594},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/muthama-faces-tall-order-selling-ruto-in-ukambani#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Muthama faces tall order selling Ruto in Ukambani\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/\",\"name\":\"kenya\",\"description\":\"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\",\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"cfeditoren\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Muthama faces tall order selling Ruto in Ukambani - kenya","description":"Former Machakos Senator Johnstone Muthama has set himself up for a herculean task of selling Deputy President William Ruto\u2019s presidential","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/muthama-faces-tall-order-selling-ruto-in-ukambani","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Muthama faces tall order selling Ruto in Ukambani","og_description":"Former Machakos Senator Johnstone Muthama has set himself up for a herculean task of selling Deputy President William Ruto\u2019s presidential","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/muthama-faces-tall-order-selling-ruto-in-ukambani","og_site_name":"kenya","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa","article_published_time":"2020-10-11T20:16:43+00:00","og_image":[{"width":800,"height":594,"url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sites\/28\/2020\/10\/muthama_faces_tall_o5f81fe8e2c320.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"cfeditoren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cfeditoren","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/muthama-faces-tall-order-selling-ruto-in-ukambani#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/muthama-faces-tall-order-selling-ruto-in-ukambani"},"author":{"name":"cfeditoren","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"headline":"Muthama faces tall order selling Ruto in Ukambani","datePublished":"2020-10-11T20:16:43+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/muthama-faces-tall-order-selling-ruto-in-ukambani"},"wordCount":773,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/muthama-faces-tall-order-selling-ruto-in-ukambani#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sites\/28\/2020\/10\/muthama_faces_tall_o5f81fe8e2c320.jpg","keywords":["2022 General Election","Johnstone Muthama","William Ruto"],"articleSection":["all news","homepage-english","policy"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/muthama-faces-tall-order-selling-ruto-in-ukambani#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/muthama-faces-tall-order-selling-ruto-in-ukambani","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/muthama-faces-tall-order-selling-ruto-in-ukambani","name":"Muthama faces tall order selling Ruto in Ukambani - kenya","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/muthama-faces-tall-order-selling-ruto-in-ukambani#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/muthama-faces-tall-order-selling-ruto-in-ukambani#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sites\/28\/2020\/10\/muthama_faces_tall_o5f81fe8e2c320.jpg","datePublished":"2020-10-11T20:16:43+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"description":"Former Machakos Senator Johnstone Muthama has set himself up for a herculean task of selling Deputy President William Ruto\u2019s presidential","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/muthama-faces-tall-order-selling-ruto-in-ukambani#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/muthama-faces-tall-order-selling-ruto-in-ukambani"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/muthama-faces-tall-order-selling-ruto-in-ukambani#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sites\/28\/2020\/10\/muthama_faces_tall_o5f81fe8e2c320.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sites\/28\/2020\/10\/muthama_faces_tall_o5f81fe8e2c320.jpg","width":800,"height":594},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/muthama-faces-tall-order-selling-ruto-in-ukambani#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Muthama faces tall order selling Ruto in Ukambani"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/","name":"kenya","description":"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb","name":"cfeditoren","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"cfeditoren"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15748","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15748"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15748\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15736"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15748"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15748"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15748"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}