Opinion: Why Muturi’s Coronation is Bad for Ruto

Last weekend the Speaker of National Assembly Justin Muturi was crowned by the Kikuyu elders to be the region’s spokesperson by a way of a traditional coronation ceremony held in Mukurwe wa Nyagathanga shrine in Murang’a County. This is considered a sacred and significant ritual which is conducted only to persons considered to be serious and influential voices in the region and nationally especially in politics. The coronated person automatically assumes some sort of leadership position in the region. In most cases the person takes the mantle to be the de facto point man of the region and any engagement with other regions must be through him.

One thing that was different about Muturi’s coronation from the previous ones is the lack of unanimous support from key political figures in the region. Ideally the coronation is meant to unite the region to have one voice in charting its political and development path. Not this time. A number of key political figures from the Kikuyu nation were openly opposed to Muturi’s coronation. These included Murang’a County’s top political leadership namely Governor Mwangi wa Iria and Senator Kang’ata as well as Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru. Those in support of Muturi were mostly the larger Meru and Embu leaders who included Governors from Meru, Tharaka Nithi and Embu Counties. Muturi hails from Mbeere in Embu County. To put it more expressly, the coronation has brought a huge division in Gema (Gikuyu Embu and Meru Association); on one side is the Gikuyu community and on the other the Embu and Meru.

It’s hard to separate this coronation from the larger Gema politics. They are interrelated. Every political calculation in the region has been hinged on the unity of the three communities. With the Deputy President H.E William Ruto counting on the support of the Mount Kenya region for his presidential bid, it goes without saying that disunity in Gema will be a big blow to those ambitions. The opposition by key Gikuyu leaders to Muturi’s leadership has been interpreted in the Lower Mount Kenya region of Embu and Meru as selfishness. There are already voices in the region wondering if the Kikuyus can be trusted to support any other non-Kikuyu Gema leader or any course in the region which is not driven by the Kikuyu nation. There is a saying by William Shakespeare that goes “don’t trust the person who has broken faith once”. Trust is key in any relation and once it is lost it becomes hard to regain.

If not addressed early, this division in Gema could go all the way to the 2022 Presidential election with the two sides supporting different candidates. The Embu and Meru communities are likely to resolve to independently chart their own political paths rather than blindly following a partner who doesn’t consider them as equal or at least show some form of reciprocity. The two will feel that continued support of the Kikuyu candidates or ideals is submitting themselves to a complete and total dominance with no bargaining power. This means that for instance, if the Central region chooses to support Ruto, then the Lower Mount Kenya Region will go a different path. That would differently translate to a big chomp into Ruto’s expected vote basket from the region. The worst case scenario would be the permanent break up of Gema which would consequently put an end or slow the Kikuyu’s political dominance at national level.