NADCO report fallout: Mutua dares Kioni to hold demos in Mt. Kenya

By Peter Ochieng 

Azimio La Umoja One Kenya spokesperson Professor Makau Mutua has dared embattled Jubilee party Secretary General Jeremiah Kioni to call for successful demos in Mt. Kenya, to prove that residents are against the National Dialogue Committee (NADCO) report.

Some leaders within the Azimio ranks, led by Kioni, DAP Kenya party leader Eugene Wamalwa and Narc Kenya party leader Martha Karua have opposed the report, for failing to address the thorny issue of the cost of living.

In what seemed as trading of barbs on X, formerly Twitter, Makua said those opposed to the report are free to leave the Azimio political formation, stating that it is not a forced marriage.

“Azimio isn’t a forced marriage. Please leave if you can’t support the NADCO report which is the product of the party’s agreed democratic processes,” Mutua said.

The NADCO report was endorsed by among others, Azimio leader Raila Odinga and Wiper party leader Kalonzo Musyoka who co-chaired the committee, alongside Leader of Majority in the National Assembly, Kimani Ichung’wah.

“Mwalimu, we are not in Azimio on your invitation!” Kioni hit back. But in a rejoinder, Mutua said he can only take Kioni and his ilk seriously, if they successful call for demos in Mt. Kenya.

“I will take my brother @Hon Kioni seriously when he and his Kamwene siblings organize Maandamano (demos) in the Mountain.

According to David Ndii, chair of President William Ruto’s presidential Council of Economic Advisors, Kamwene translates to self-centered, insular (narrow-minded) and mean-spirited.

Karua and Wamalwa have been the most vocal against the NADCO report.

“I didn’t and will not append my signature to the NADCO report and have not and will not accept any sitting allowance for the same because I believe we did not do justice to the single most important issue to Kenyans; the cost of living,” said Wamalwa, who was a member of the Azimio team in the committee.

"Any purported agreement that does not immediately impact on the cost of living, electoral justice and respect for multiparty democracy is a fraud on the people and must be rejected," stated Karua.