It has been long time coming-from a region that prides itself as the pacesetter in any presidential election, Mt Kenya is a pale shadow of itself politically speaking.
Without a presidential candidate, and the ground divided, the mountain with over 5.8 million votes taking into account the Diaspora might have politically shot itself on the foot for being extremely generous.
Having produced presidents, first after independence and twice after the dawn of multiparty democracy, Mt Kenya succumbed to growing pressure from the other regions and decide to forego the president position this time round.
It is noteworthy that the decision not to field a candidate from the region didn’t come from any negotiation table but rather happened spontaneously.
Political pundits like yours truly advocated for the region to field a presidential candidate and later negotiate at a balance of power but this didn’t happen.
The only leader from Mt Kenya to hint at this matter is President Uhuru Kenyatta, when he said that maybe it is time another region produced a President in 2022, but we all remember the uproar it caused.
It appears, Uhuru Kenyatta is the only politician who knows where this game is headed to.
As the date for the nomination of running mates by leading Presidential contenders, Raila Odinga and William Ruto draws near, Mt Kenya region has found itself between the rock and hard place.
What seemed to be an obvious is now turning out to be a nightmare as potential candidates to deputize Raila and Ruto appear like they can come from any region and not necessarily Mt Kenya.
To say that the apprehension is reaching depression level around the mountain region is an understatement.
The region is left guessing on whom among its sons and daughters could be lucky, while worrying this couldn’t happen because other regions, especially lower Eastern and Western are angling for the same.
Did the mountain miscalculate the tenacity at which the second in command position will be fought for and did the region unknowingly sell its political and leadership birthright?
Hearing the demands and suggestions from some leading political notables across the political divide from the mountain, one is left wondering how a vote rich region could be reduced into a beggar or squabbling rot.
What would Mt Kenya do if Raila and Ruto nominate running mates outside the mountain region?
Were it not that the IEBC has pushed the date for running mates nominations to May 16 from April 28, the mountain and the whole country would know the answer to this question by end of business today.
Whether the Deputy President nominees come from Mt Kenya region or not, the fact remains that the mountain took a big gamble with an extremely important matter and will soon learn a lesson never to repeat again.
This is because fielding a Presidential candidate is recognized in our constitution and doing so and exercising this democratic right is in order for any region, the region notwithstanding.
That as it may, the possibility that Raila and Ruto could nominate from outside Mt Kenya is not far-fetched.
The possibility either of the two could do the same is not implausible.
One lesson to learn from this Mt Kenya thing is that it is easy to render any region in this country politically impotent even if such a region has more votes than many other regions combined.
As things stand now, Mt Kenya is hanging on hope as far as the Deputy President of the Republic of Kenya is concerned.
All things considered, the mountain played with fire and must therefore be prepared to scald itself while trying to manage the fierce flames.
In a nutshell, the mountain itado? Na kuna wale wanasema hatupangingwi!
Kaunda wa Muchunku
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