A section of Gikuyu, Embu, and Meru (GEMA) leaders in Uasin Gishu County have affirmed their commitment to supporting Deputy President William Ruto’s 2022 presidential bid.
The leaders who spoke to the press in Eldoret town on Monday further dismissed claims by the Nairobi governor Mike Mbuvi Sonko that the Mt. Kenya region will ditch DP Ruto in 2022.
Led by GEMA Cultural Association national Organizing Secretary Paul Kinyanjui Mwangi, the leaders insisted that their support for Ruto in 2022 is guaranteed.
“We the GEMA communities outside Mt. Kenya region knows that after President Uhuru Kenyatta, our support will be for DP Ruto and we don’t expect any discussions about this matter,” Kinyanjui said.
“Our votes are about 3 million and we know where they will go in 2022 so anybody planning otherwise is on his/her own,” he added.
The leaders however condemned any Mt. Kenya mafias that might be holding night meetings to plot against Ruto as claimed by governor Sonko.
“Those planning this maybe are the ones who were against President Kenyatta’s Presidency when he vied for the first time in 2002,” said Joseph Kariri, an Eldoret businessman.
“We don’t want the nonsense of people holding night meetings, we must support DP Ruto in 2022. As a community we cannot have presidents forever, we’ve many tribes and must support another person come 2022, and that person is Ruto,” he added.
The leaders, however, said any such kind of issues should be handled by the Jubilee party leadership instead of washing dirty linens to the public.