Kiunjuri launches new political party “to seek power”

Former Cabinet Secretary Mwangi Kiunjuri, sacked from the Cabinet earlier in the year has unveiled a new political party – The Service Party.



“This is our new political party and you know parties are launched to seek power,” said Kiunjuri during a media conference, saying the party will spend the next two years preparing itself for what would be a bruising 2022 General Elections contest.



“We will start recruiting more members to the party as soon as COVID-19 containment measures are lifted.”



Kiunjuri’s party will carry the slogan ‘Huduma Twajiamini’ and also includes, among others, former Kiambu County Assembly member Karungo wa Thangwa – the national organizing secretary of the party.



Thangwa, a former journalist with Kameme FM and ex-MCA for Ngewa in Kiambu County, lost his bid to be elected Senator in the 2017 elections.



PHOTO/COURTESY



He was appointed to the Kiambu County Executive Committee by impeached Kiambu County Governor Ferdinand Waititu but lost his portfolio after James Nyoro was sworn-in to succeed his former boss.



“This is the party of the silent majority. We have a big heart. We are open to all,” said Thangwa.



Kiunjuri has had a checkered political career since his first election to parliament in 1997, then on Mwai Kibaki’s Democratic Party ticket, as MP for Laikipia East.



Before his 2013 ouster, Kiunjuri had secured his reelection on different parties.



After his first election in 1997 on a DP ticket, he retained his position on a National rainbow Coalition (NARC) ticket in the 2002 elections which propelled Kibaki to presidency and was reelected in 2007 on a Party of National Unity ticket.



Kiunjuri served in different ministries as a assistant minister during the Kibaki regime but lost his parliamentary seat in 2013 when he was leader of the Government of National Unity party.



Former Cabinet Secretary Mwangi Kiunjuri confers with President Uhuru during a past public event. PHOTO/COURTESY



President Uhuru Kenyatta appointed him to replace Anne Waiguru, following her resignation in 2015, as Cabinet Secretary for Devolution and Planning.



He was transferred to the agriculture docket after the 2017 general elections, the portfolio he held until his sacking six months ago.



Kiunjuri is a Bachelor of Education graduate from Moi University and is viewed by many of his supporters as an articulate politician, who could be a key player in the Mount Kenya kingpin succession equation once President Kenyatta retires in 2022.



His sacking was interpreted, by political analysts, as a consequence of his close association with Deputy President William Ruto, which view seemed to be given credence when he was seen, at a public event, with the DP barely a week after being shown the door.



The launch of the new party may be seen as a strategy to position himself as an attractive suitor come 2022, especially viewed against his confirmation that he has no interest in the Laikipia Gubernatorial race.



Deputy President William Ruto chats with former CS Mwangi Kiunjuri at a funeral in Limuru, Kiambu county. PHOTO/COURTESY/DPPS



Many might view this as a move to create a fall back for embattled Ruto, to whose association Kiunjuri simply said “I never betray my friends” when asked whether he was still close with the DP.