Leaders from Meru county threaten to quit the Jubilee Coalition

Leaders from Meru county have differed  sharply in the past, but it seems like they have now put those differences aside with one mission; to demand for a larger share of the national cake for a region that is a key constituency for the Jubilee coalition.

During a meeting in Meru town, the leaders said that Meru county gave the Jubilee government many votes and the government needs to reciprocate by taking more development projects to the region. The county’s political leaders claim Kenyatta’s government was not giving back enough despite garnering 384, 290 votes from the region.

Present in the meeting were Meru Senator Kiraitu Murungi, Governor Peter Munya, Florence Kajuju and more than 60 other leaders from the county

“In terms of the number of votes we gave to the Jubilee government, we don’t understand why we should be the last county in the distribution of the rural roads through KERRA. We are going to fight that in court and challenge it on the basis of discrimination against our county.” Said Meru senator Kiraitu Murungi during the meeting

This threat has however brought to  light the issue of the old sibling rivalry between the Meru county leaders and their counterparts from the neighboring Tharaka Nithi county. Sources indicate that  Meru leaders are uncomfortable with the political clout of senate’s majority leader Prof. Kithure Kindiki who is seen as too close to Kenyatta and Ruto and is poised to become the region’s political autocrat

Elected leaders from Tharaka Nithi county were not present in the meeting despite the county being part of the larger Meru region that is a key element of the Jubilee coalition presidential poll outcome last year

The leaders also wants the Jubilee government to find a solution for the lack of Miraa market, the region’s main cash crop