HOW THIRSTY FOR POWER IS THIS MAN KIU-NJURI

Festus Mwangi Kiunjuri, the three times mp for Laikipia East constituency is thirsty, thirsty for power. For long he has been plotting his kingship of the cetral region post Uhuru Kenyatta. He is one of the mps quietly, praying for the confirmation of charges against Uhuru and co. at the ICC. With the prince around, Kiunjuri will never make it past a member of parliament and he knows that. He may seem close to the deputy prime minister on camera but they both know they are using each other on their way to power. Uhuru uses Kiunjuri in organizing rallies and doing some grassroot mobilization, while Kiunjuri uses Uhuru as his ladder to chiefdom.

In the process of riding on Uhuru's name, Kiunjuri has taken it so personal in his fight against the common enemy Raila, that he even threatened the attorney general to sue him or he would sue him himself. Going back in history I don't see anywhere Kiunjuri has collided with the prime minister and so such vigour in fighting him is questionable and the only explanation is his quest to be seen as the true defender of the Agikuyu. It is part of his wider scheme of capturing kingship of central after ICC does its job. He realised  that he must attach himself to the king and maybe he may get the blessings, or after the king loses his throne, he may be close enough to the blue fabric and  may be a runaway king of the Kikuyu. Going with that mentality, he has alligned himself in a position where he will take credit for succesess  an example been the homecoming rally at Uhuru park where he was a key force in its organization, planning and eventual success.

With such an elaborate plan by Kiunjuri, several things stand on his way and the possibility of a king Kiunjuri are very unlikely. The most disturbing to him is that he is  unwanted. The forces of central Kenya have never imagined of a certain Kiunjuri leading them to state house and that is not changing anytime soon. There is no way a person who comes from a 'poor' family line with no royalty in its blood be their leader. That is the philosophy of the old men and those transitioning from young to old. These are the people who control the economy of central and even Nairobi. As one columnist calls them, they are the old money. They would prefer a person who goes to share a game of golf with them from time to time and that man is Amos Kimunya. He may not be the exact blue blooded man but he has somehow been touted as a possible replacement Uhuru if anything happens. This is partly due to his closeness to the first family.

Kiunjuri is also afraid of other emerging forces in central in the name of Peter Kenneth, Martha Karua and to some extent Jeremiah Kioni who am made to understand competes for television airtime with Kiunjuri. He understands that for him to beat a field of such people a miracle must happen, and he is pursuing the miracle. Till that moment he sees the kingship going to someone else, he will continue to pursue it. Until then, he believes we are in the Pre- Kiunjuri period.