This archive report was first published on 11 July 2019.
Ukambani leaders who were once loyal to Deputy President William Ruto's presidential bid have abandoned him for Kalonzo Musyoka, citing betrayal by Uhuru Kenyatta.
These leaders, who were elected on a Jubilee party ticket in 2013 and 2017, claim that Uhuru abandoned them after the last general elections, despite promising them government appointments.
They point to the appointment of Monica Juma as Foreign Affairs cabinet secretary, who they say is married in Murang'a and was pushed by powerful tycoons from Mount Kenya region, despite being born in Mwingi, Kitui.
As the 2022 general elections draw near, leaders who had pledged loyalty to Ruto are silently chickening out and mending fences with Kalonzo, with many trickling back to the Wiper party.
Ruto has now dropped Victor Munyaka, who was his main pointman in the region, after realising that he was a Kalonzo sympathiser. He is now grooming Mwala MP Vincent Musyoka as his new pointman.
The DP is also using his influence in parliament to rearrange house committees and reward those loyal with key posts.
It is a bitter pill for Ruto, who had relied on his team from Ukambani to deliver votes in the 2017 elections, but was warned by intelligence that they were weak on the ground.
