Deputy President William Ruto has once again been warned against expecting an automatic backing from the Mt Kenya region in his 2022 presidential bid.
This comes barely three years after President Uhuru Kenyatta, the Mt Kenya kingpin, promised that the region will back the DP for the presidency in 2022 and back him up to 2032.
Speaking during their campaigns, Uhuru said that this would be the region's thank you token to the DP for backing his (Uhuru) election and reelection in 2013 and 2017 respectively.
However, Gikuyu Embu Meru Association (GEMA) Chair Ndungu Gaithuma now says that the region will not be dragged into the agreement between the two, if there was any.
Speaking in Limuru on Saturday, he said that the region is not aware of any such agreement, and if there is, its between the two and not their communities.
“If he (Uhuru) talked with any political leader and sealed a deal, the community was not involved,” he is quoted by the Standard.
He also dismissed claims that the region is divided, noting that its waiting from Uhuru's directions, at a time when area leaders are divided between the president and the deputy.
However, his remarks seem not to resonate with some area politicians who have been endorsing the DP's bid in line with the initially announced Jubilee 20-year arrangement.
Under the tag Tangatanga, they have even defied Uhuru's anti-campaign calls and proceeded to campaign for him, which has severally seen them receive a tongue lashing from Uhuru.