Richard Ngatia graduated from a university in Costa Rica with a degree in corporate governance in 2019. This sounds sweet to the ears until you learn that San Juan De La Cruz University indeed exists but then it does not offer anything called Corporate Governance. Therefore, the paper Ngatia has is a forgery that must attract legal action. Then there is the KEMSA scam that is fresh in the minds of Kenyans that has the ugly imagery of greedy profiteers stealing from dying Kenyans during a deadly pandemic, Covid-19.
It is all ugly and despicable. Of course arguments can be made regarding criminal culpability but the court of public opinion where political decisions are made has already declared him guilty. On the issue of school, any degree he comes up with will most likely be scrutinized and the school offering it will be grilled, and if found to be fake, it will be exposed.
Does Jubilee as a party want to go through this mess? The answer is yes and no. Yes, for addled daft-heads in the party such as Secretary General Jeremiah Kioni, a toast who came out early under the influence of cash, and endorsed a candidate, forgetting that as a party official, he must appear to be impartial if party decisions are to be taken seriously.
It is a “NO” for sober minds in the party who are not ready for nonsensical and messy fights that might cost the party a winnable gubernatorial contest.
Given the highly negative reception Polycarp Igathe has received due to his resignation a few months after being sworn in as Governor Sonko’s Deputy Governor, there is the feeling that any other candidate who has put his or her name out there is worthy considering, but the danger is that being guided by money is a problem. The rejection of Igathe does not mean Jubilee swings to Ngatia. Politically, Igathe is far much better than Ngatia, but there are other candidates who are better than both of these. One is Wachira Njuguna, a former CEC in the Sonko administration. The other one is Agnes Kagure, a well-known businesswoman who has emerged as the frontrunner in the search for the Jubilee ticket but is facing tough battles from party bigwigs who do not seem to like her for whatever reason.
Since Azimio officials are not dumb to field a non-GEMA candidate for Nairobi governor, Jubilee is the party to produce the next City County Governor. Getting it right and getting it quickly is vital. UDA or Kenya Kwanza already made a blunder by settling on a non-Kikuyu thus making it terribly hard for Ruto to beg Kikuyus for his own votes and beg the same Kikuyus for their votes for a gubernatorial candidate who is also not a Kikuyu. It makes it easier for a Kikuyu Azimio candidate for governor to harvest even 50% of the Kikuyu vote that will be added to the Raila basket of Kisiis, Luos, and Luhyas thus pushing the Azimio candidate up to a high of 60%.
Jubilee has it. It just needs to settle on a good candidate. While it is not Igathe, it is definitely not Ngatia.
In serious environments, Jeremiah Kioni should have been compelled to resign from the party for running his mouth, taking sides, forgetting that he is a referee who must not take sides. But then again this is Kenya. It is not a serious environment.
Dr. James Kabaiku
Guest Writer