By Peter Thatiah And David Ohito

With President Kibaki steadily fading out of the picture, the fight to control the Gema vote well ahead of 2012 has begun in earnest, The Standard can report. Prime Minister Raila Odinga, it is understood, is using allies to make forays into the region.

Preparations to crown him a Kikuyu elder, a move that has split the community, would appear to be part of a scheme to provide him with a springboard to spread his influence.

Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka, Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta, Justice Minister Martha Karua and their Internal Security counterpart, Prof George Saitoti, are also bidding for the Gema vote as succession battles rage on behind the scenes.

For the moment, Gema allegiances seem decidedly split down the middle.

Touted as having come close to clinching the Deputy Prime Minister’s post, which went to Uhuru, Karua stands at par with both the DPM and Saitoti.

Even though he hails from the Rift Valley, Saitoti, the Kajiado North MP, has political roots deep in central Kenya because of his mixed ethnic heritage.

Kalonzo has visited the region five times since Mr Kiraitu Murungi, the Energy minister, endorsed him as Kibaki’s heir apparent.

Last night, sources close to ODM claimed that Uhuru remains central to Kibaki’s succession agenda, with some Gema leaders hoping to rope in the support of key rivals like Saitoti, Karua and Kalonzo to back him in 2012.

The source blamed the open rebellion in PNU to this strategy and said ODM would adopt what he described as “a multi-pronged approach” for the Mt Kenya region.

“We are keeping Kiraitu Murungi, Gitobu Imanyara and Martha Karua close to our hearts. The Meru vote is very strategic and we want it on our side. If need be, we will renew fronts with those who supported the late Jaramogi Oginga Odinga in 1992,” the ODM source said.

The source added: “We cannot even rule out wooing Uhuru, Karua or Saitoti to our camp. It’s too early.”

New alliances

Raila and Karua have lately been making appearances together at public functions.

Whether this could be the early signs of a possible future coalition between two individuals, who were bitterly divided by the disputed outcome of last year’s presidential elections and the bloodletting that followed, remains to be seen.

Karua has already made her ambitions clear. But when contacted on whether her public appearances with Raila meant they were planning something, she said: “It is absolutely untrue.”

But also weaved into this entire web is an assortment of leaders, who command stakes in different areas in the larger Gema bloc but feel ignored by the frontrunners.

Also caught in this intriguing affair is a President whose loyal troops are now in the mood for a rebellion.

Speaking at a Narc-Kenya rally in Garsen at the weekend, Karua hit out at politicians she said were being “groomed” to succeed President Kibaki, even as she restated her intention to vie for the presidency in 2012.

“The public should be let to decide who to support after Kibaki’s term ends. No one should grumble over my candidature,” Karua, who said a retiring President should not be the one to name a successor, asserted.

“Rais anayestaafu hapaswi kusema ni nani atakaye chukua mahali pake” (A retiring president should not be the one to say who should succeed him),” Karua asserted.

On May 31, The Standard exclusively reported the return of Gema, the blood union of Mt Kenya communities — Gikuyu, Embu and Meru Association.

After two-and-half decades of silence, the political and religious class from the Gema community that wielded power during founding President Jomo Kenyatta’s reign are now back.

With Kibaki out of contention in 2012 and without a central figure to galvanise the region, the vote appears up for grabs. This has triggered a flurry of political activity in the region, four years ahead of the next General Election.

Just days after PNU affiliates refused to be part of a corporate gameplan fronted by President Kibaki, legislators in the region, the President’s home turf, at the weekend hit the trail in search of new coalitions as re-alignments begin to take shape.

Kibaki plan to fail

Igembe South MP Mithika Linturi dismissed Kibaki’s PNU plans as “doomed” and cautioned that politicians from the Mt Kenya region not to jump into “a doomed boat”.

Kiraitu’s open endorsement of Kalonzo appears to have served as a trigger for the battle of the Gema vote.

In Embu at the weekend, Mbeere leaders came out to meet the VP and accompanied him during the two-day visit. The only one missing was Assistant minister and Runyenjes MP, Ms Cecily Mbarire.

The VP was also given a wide berth by MPs from the four constituencies of Kirinyaga District — all of them allies of Karua.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, one MP said: “We are firmly in Narc-Kenya. There’s no leadership vacuum in our party and neither are we looking for one.”

Back to PNU, Siakago MP Lenny Kivuti (Safina) said: “There is no quarrel between PNU affiliate parties and Kibaki. We are just a bunch of independent-thinking MPs.”

Kivuti, who accompanied Kalonzo during the VP’s two-day visit at the weekend, added: “Power is never given. Even Kibaki cannot give us that power; it is grabbed. All we are doing now is designing a winning formula through which we can grab it.”

In the Embu-Mbeere region, Kivuti says they are still taking their time, while in the greater Meru Kiraitu’s call to have the community unanimously rally behind Kalonzo is still being sized up.

Kieni MP Nemesius Warugongo says when Kalonzo returns to the region next weekend, he would present his case to Nyeri leaders at the provincial headquarters.

On his part, Embu Mayor Peter Muriithi said Mt Kenya region should stand together or prepare to be out of Government come 2012.

In his first interview since he lost his Manyatta seat, Mr Njeru Ndwiga told The Standard that the Mt Kenya region was a complicated political entity and warned against writing off Kibaki too early.

“People are saying Kibaki is inconsequential because he is headed for retirement. But they may have forgotten that he has intricate networks in the region. Networks are everything in politics and you can’t ignore that,” Ndwiga intimated.

He added: “Saitoti is the other politician who has good networks in the mountain region. Underrate him at your own cost.”

But on Sunday, Saitoti dismissed claims that he was one of the PNU ministers being groomed to take over from President Kibaki.

“These are rumours, and as you always know, I would not want to comment further,” Saitoti said.

Saitoti was addressing journalists who asked him if he was the one hit at by Karua on Saturday when she claimed that some politicians were being groomed to succeed President Kibaki in 2012.

Leaders in the larger Kiambu appear drawn towards Uhuru and Raila.

Courtesy of:http://www.eastandard.net/InsidePage.php?id=1143990638&cid=4&