Political analyst Alex Manyasi now says that the growing defiance from some Mt Kenya leaders towards President Uhuru Kenyatta has everything to do with the 2017 polls.
Uhuru has been having it hard galvanizing his backyard, with quite a number of leaders openly defying and publicly disobeying him in favour of his deputy William Ruto.
Speaking on Monday, he observed that Uhuru has to blame himself for allowing Ruto to penetrate into the region in 2017, adding that the group owes its allegiance to Ruto.
He added that most politicians came to power through Ruto, after he somehow managed to pull his strings in the Jubilee Party primaries, while Uhuru's allies lost in the nominations.
"There are many people who were thrown out in the nominations. Most of those holding seats don't owe allegiance to Uhuru because they feel he was not of any help to them. (Kuna watu wengi sana walitupwa nje kwa nominations. Wengi wale wako pale hawana allegiance kwa Uhuru kwa sababu wanaona hakuwasaidia)," he said.
Manyasi was speaking on Radio Maisha's Bunge La Maisha show on Monday morning.
He added that Ruto has also outsmarted the group by appearing humble and always ready for consultations, while Uhuru appears arrogant towards them.
"When Ruto has political meetings he normally summons the leaders to Karen but Uhuru has no meetings with anyone. He just says what he wants in the public, which the leaders see as arrogance. (Ruto anapokuwa na siasa huita watu Karen lakini Rais hana mkutano na mtu. Yeye akitaka kusema kitu anasema mbele ya umati. Wanaona ni kama dharau)," he added.
Consequently, leaders from the region have been divided into the pro-Ruto Tangatanga and Uhuru's Kieleweke groupings, while others have kept their silence on the fights.