Munya Pledges to Deliver Meru Votes to NASA as PNU Party Disowns Him

Former Meru Governor Peter Munya has pledged to deliver Meru votes to National Super Alliance (NASA) presidential candidate Raila Odinga ahead of October 17th repeat election, even as Party of National Unity (PNU) disowns him after joining NASA.

Addressing the media when he was received in the opposition coalition at Capitol Hill in Nairobi, Munya said he wants to be “on the right side of history” and that he has defected alongside his PNU’s leadership. “My election was stolen and I cannot join those who stole my election,” he said. “Efforts to put the country on the path to democracy had been rolled back by purveyors of impunity.”

He also said he will contest Meru governor Kiraitu Murungi's win in court, adding that he has gathered enough evidence.

However, PNU national chairman John Kamama and Tigania East MP Josephat Kabeabea (PNU) have disowned Munya, saying that he joined Nasa in his personal capacity. “If he was a bona fide PNU leader, he would have moved with the entire party, which is not the case,” Kamama said.

A gazette notice by Registrar of Political Parties Lucy Ndung’u on June 25 named former president Mwai Kibaki as the bonafide PNU party leader.

In Meru, Governor Murungi said he was not shocked by Munya's decision to join Nasa, adding that he has been in Nasa all through, only that he had not made it public. “We know that his campaigns were financed by Nasa. "That is why there were frequent trips to the region by Raila, Wetang’ula, Joho and even Mudavadi. "They always came and urged the Meru people to vote for Munya," Murungi said.

Kiraitu said Munya “had dug his own political grave because there is no 'Mumeru' who will support him while he is in Nasa” and dared him to challenge his election. “He thinks because the Supreme Court decided to nullify President Uhuru Kenyatta’s election on the basis of some technicalities he can nullify my election in a similar way,” the governor said. “But all the people know that the IEBC (Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission) did an excellent job in Meru and delivered a free, fair and transparent election.

"The people of Meru freely expressed their will — rejecting him as their governor,” said Murungi.