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Why Jimmy Wanjigi has turned on Uhuru


Nairobi billionaire Jimmy Wanjigi has thrown former President Uhuru Kenyatta under the bus saying that President William Ruto should instead go after him and not his mother Mama Ngina.

Speaking at the Power of Faith Church International in Kiambu, Wanjigi instead asked President Ruto to go after his predecessor saying since he is alive and should bear the cross not Mzee Jomo Kenyatta’s wealth with his widowed wife.

“Kijana angali yuko, tafuta yeye. (Uhuru is still there, look for him instead),” he said before dissuading President Ruto from going after Mama Ngina and quoting what the bible says about widows and orphans.

Also read: President William Ruto responds to Mama Ngina Kenyatta on matters tax

President Ruto is not the only one who has fallen out with Mr Kenyatta. Wanjigi fell out with the fourth president a while back when he and his son pushed for a piece of the Sh327 billion of the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) before it became a battlefield.

Nation reported that the battlelines between Mr Wanjigi and senior Jubilee officials were drawn as a result. The former was the mastermind of the flagship project that had been mooted during the time of the grand coalition government when he was working closely with key figures in that administration.

When the project faltered in 2008 as the Rift Valley Railways, which operates the old railway, Mr Wanjigi was denied permission to carry out feasibility studies.

He then went to see Prime Minister Raila Odinga, a man he had known for years. What Mr Wanjigi wanted was for the government to agree on a build, operate and transfer (BOT) agreement and he would approach a Chinese company to carry out the project.

China Road and Bridge Corporation general manager Du Fei had already shown interest in the project. But no sooner had the Jubilee administration got into power than Mr Wanjigi and his henchmen were sidelined. The BOT agreement also became a loan.

Also read: Respect and leave Mama Ngina alone – Reuben Kigame