Editor's Review

The founding UDA chairman met with Kalonzo Thursday night, October 1.

Wiper Party has moved to clear the air over Johnson Muthama's political direction, insisting that the founding chairman of the ruling United Democratic Alliance (UDA) has not yet left President William Ruto's camp.

Speaking to the press on Saturday, October 3, Wiper Party chairman Jamleck Kamau addressed claims that Muthama had crossed over to the side of party leader Stephen Kalonzo Musyoka.

Jamleck, however, revealed Wiper was working to bring him over.

"For the avoidance of any doubt, and as we speak now, Senator Johnson Muthama is still in government. But we are working with him to ensure he comes back to us," Jamleck said.

Kamau said Muthama would not be the only one making the move.

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"And it is not Muthama alone; you will see many others crossing over to our side," he said.

The clarification follows speculation that arose after Muthama, Machakos County's first senator, held a meeting with Kalonzo on Thursday night, October 1.

Johnson Muthama with Kalonzo Musyoka in past meeting.

Some quarters read the meeting as a sign that he was on his way out of Ruto's fold. Muthama is currently a commissioner at the Parliamentary Service Commission (PSC).

Jamleck also addressed President Ruto's recent offensive against Kalonzo.

The president has mocked the Wiper leader for spending years in government as a minister, Member of Parliament, and vice president without a tangible development project in his Ukambani backyard.

The Wiper party chairman said the party would advise Kalonzo not to respond to the jibes and would leave that task to his subordinates.

"We have said our candidate is above exchanges in public. In fact, we are going ahead today to say that going forward, we are going to advise our candidate, Stephen Kalonzo Musyoka, not to be responding to the insults of President William Ruto. He is well above that," he said. 

He described the Wiper leader as a statesman who would not stoop to trading insults.

"He is a diplomat, a presidential material, who respects Kenyans," Kamau said.

"He is not the kind of person who can start attacking people, nor the kind of person who can start insults. We will be dealing with that ourselves. If Ruto wants us to answer him on behalf of our candidate, we will be doing that."

Kamau said the party wanted Kalonzo to concentrate on what it sees as the real issues facing the country.