Is Jeremiah Kioni Kenya's second most truthful politician?

Jubilee Party deputy leader and Ndaragwa constituency aspirant is emerging as the second most truthful man in the ranks  of the united opposition, insisting on speaking out about uncomfortable things and ruffling political feathers in the process.

In an interview with the standard newspaper yesterday morning, the former presidential running mate for Musalia Mudavadi in the 2013 general elections, said it was time retired president Uhuru Kenyatta relinquished the political party leader office he holds to play elder statesman in uniting the opposition parties.

“Uhuru Kenyatta’s convening power cannot be transferred to someone else in helping unite the opposition into a team. But he has to quit being a holder of party positions, so he makes room to mediate between party leaders without the baggage of Jubilee party partisanship. Of course, he has to manage the transition in a manner that Jubilee members do not feel abandoned,” Kioni said.

He was responding to a question about how united opposition parties hoped to navigate competitive primaries in their strongholds and avoid splintering their support base between themselves in the face of loud lamentations that the Democratic Citizens Party (DCP)'s aggressive popularity and branding had decimated some affiliate parties in some areas.

Time is running out for the united opposition to bond and show clear direction to their impatient support base.

“This is why I have decided to speak out about what is not sitting pretty in my view. There is urgent business that needs to be done,” he added.

On Friday, Kioni drew the ire of the first ‘truthful man’ and former deputy President, Mr Rigathi Gachagua, who labeled him a government mole on a mission to sow seeds of discord inside the united opposition.

Gachagua seem to have taken offence with Kioni's penchant for taking to the tv talk shows circuit to speak out on delicate relationships in the ranks of the United Opposition, their performance, popularity ratings, and liberally offering free observations about what he thinks.

In one podcast appearance last week, he boldly stated in a matter-of-fact fashion that Riggy  will be a presidential candidate and cautioned other luminaries, among them Mr Kalonzo Musyoka and Dr Fred Matiang’i, to begin thinking about what will happen to them when that time comes.

“There are many people out here who are fond of saying they love Rigathi Gachagua because he knows how to fight William Ruto (but not as a prospective presidential candidate). Let me tell you, Gachagua will run (in the 2027 presidential race). When he runs, Kalonzo Musyoka should decide what becomes of him, and Dr Fred Matiang’i must decide what becomes of him,”  Kioni said.

As the immediate former secretary general of Jubilee Party and current deputy Jubilee party leader of the same rank with Dr Fred Matiang’I, Kioni's views and statements are consequential.

They carry nuances of impatience, friction, and uncomfortable realities internal players are blind to, unwilling or unable to deal with, let alone admit in public.

His sharp public statements also seem to imply Dr Matiang’i,  a career technocrat, was a political novice unschooled in political skullduggery being employed by his rivals who are more experienced in competitive politics.

Among other political bombshells that Kioni dropped on the early morning podcast was that Rigathi Gachagua was the only luminary in the united opposition ranks who seemed to project a clear direction, clear agenda, and requisite robust energy as a man on a mission compared to other opposition luminaries.

“Gachagua wants to build a strong DCP party; he wants so many parliamentary seats, governors, and senators. People admire that kind of clarity of mind,” he said on the Radio Generation Podcast.

Kioni has been loudly critical of what he calls the tendency by united opposition principals to adopt a mobilization principle premised on tribes and regions as contrasted to the Linda Mwananchi Movement, whose organisational principle was around issues and problems facing Kenyan and, which he compares to the National Rainbow Coalition (Narc) of 2002.

Speaking in another popular podcast, Kioni sounded the alarm that Nairobi senator, Mr Edwin Sifuna’s Linda Mwananchi Movement had, in two short months, eaten into the youth constituency that Dr Fred Matiang’i had excited a few months ago.

He warned that while Gachagua’s DCP and Sifuna’s personal appeal ratings seemed to rise with leaps and bounds, the Jubilee party and Dr Matiang’i’s profile had declined with time.

“Something needs to be done differently within the United Opposition. If the Linda Mwananchi group  forms a political vehicle, it will not be easy for the united opposition to imagine that they will just walk up to them and join them. They have been able to organize massive rallies in areas that the opposition has not been able to reach,” Kioni said.

It is instructive that Kioni and his successor as Jubilee party secretary general, Mr Moitalel Ole Kenta, have opted to focus on their own elections, sending signals they are not investing themselves in Dr Matiang’i’s presidential campaign.

Kioni is running to recapture his old Ndaragua constituency seat, and Ole Kenta is vying for the Narok governor’s seat.

Although he has publicly praised Rigathi Gachagua as a political genius for rising from post-impeachment doldrums a year and a half ago to build a mass movement, the DCP leader is not impressed by Kioni’s outspokenness about the united opposition's internal frictions.

“I wish to caution the united opposition parties’ principals to be alert about government moles planted to sow seeds of discord in our midst. I have warned about moles several times. This man talking about impending fallout among opposition leaders is deployed by President William Ruto to scatter the united opposition,” Gachagua said on Friday when he addressed a rally in Kandara, Murang’a county.

When asked about these accusations of being a government mole, Kion said:

“There is no one person in the United Opposition who has a monopoly on wisdom . Kenyans can see openly what is going on. I stand by my views that we need to show Kenyans a clear direction by presenting them with a presidential candidate and an alternative government campaign team they can relate with.”

Speaking to this same sense of delayed timelines in presenting their supporters with a clear leadership hierarchy, a policy manifesto, and a presidential campaign team, United Opposition Secretariat technocrat, Dr Mukhisa Kituyi, said in another podcast:

“We should not rush in closing the door to other potential and perhaps better candidates who are on their way to joining our team. This will give us a better pool of potential candidates to choose from. In 2002, the opposition team picked on late Mwai Kibaki three months to the election date. We have been resisting this pressure to name a candidate in the last year.”