President William Ruto’s allies have turned their guns on   businessman-cum-politician Jimi Wanjigi who they believe is a key driver in the litany of court cases challenging the controversial Finance Act.

The president’s handlers also believe that Wanjigi is behind rising discontent by residents of Central Kenya towards the  Kenya Kwanza administration.

Sources within government told People Daily that close allies of the President had identified Wanjigi as one of the so-called  saboteurs allegedly working in cahoots with a clique of judicial officers to frustrate the  development policies of the current administration with the aim of bringing it to its knees.

The spotlight on Wanjigi comes barely three weeks after the businessman confessed at a public rally in Mombasa that he was the sponsor of the court petition filed by Busia Senator Okiya Omtatah to challenge the Finance Act.

During that event, Wanjigi also called for a people’s nationwide revolution against the Kenya Kwanza-leadership and vowed to take Ruto and some senior members of the previous government to the International Trade Disputes Court.

When asked by a participant at a human rights public forum convened my Muhuri lobby group and attended by Mombasa Governor Abdulswamad Nassir and Catholic priest Father Gabriel Dolan, to state what his contribution towards good governance is, Wanjigi said that though he prefers to operate behind the scenes, he was the sponsor of Omtatah’s court case seeking the invalidation of the dispute -ridden Finance Act and that he was also the force behind the 2014 crusade against the Eurobond, a cause that was then spearheaded by the late vocal businessman Jacob Juma and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga.

Heavy taxes

At the Mombasa meeting, Wanjigi and Muhuri top officials stated that the government must be held accountable over the SGR scandals.

It is against the above backdrop, he said, that Kenyans are now “paying through the nose with heavy taxes.”

At a funeral ceremony in Kikuyu sub-county  in Kiambu county last  Friday, Wanjigi reiterated his call for a people-power revolution within three months if the Ruto regime will not have addressed the high cost of living.  In his New Year speech at State House Nakuru on Monday last week, Ruto hit out at unnamed  Opposition politicians as well as some members of the Bench for allegedly undermining his government through incessant litigation that gravely slows down public service delivery.

Though the Head of State did not name Wanjigi, People Daily has established that he was among the targets of Ruto’s tirade.

At a function attended by Ruto on Tuesday during the burial service of Mr Michael Maigo Waweru, the father of Nyandarua senator John Methu in Njabini, the Leader of Majority in the National Assembly Kimani Ichug’’wah, Kiambu senator Karungo wa Thang’wa and Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro accused former President Uhuru Kenyatta of derailing  the Ruto administration.

Connected political player

chung’wah and Wanjigi met at the Friday funeral in Kikuyu, also attended by Senior Counsel Paul Muite, where the businessman sustained his missiles against  Kenya Kwanza  while the area MP restricted his attacks on the Judiciary.

Wanjigi is a suave and intricately connected political player who has been at the centre of Kenyan politics in the last three decades, herding into, if not chairing, boardroom meetings of the country’s top-notch political actors at every election cycle.

He has publicly disclosed having previously been a close ally of former President Uhuru Kenyatta and incumbent President William Ruto, both of who, according to him, brought together in 2013 when they were facing criminal charges at the ICC, to form a formidable presidential ticket to floor former Prime Minister Raila Odinga in that year’s General – Election.

In 2017 he was Raila’s key supporter and strategist. He had declared to run for President in 2022 with lawyer Willis Otieno as his running-mate on a Safina Party ticket but was barred by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) on a technicality alongside former comedian Walter Mong’are alias Nyambane and gospel artiste Reuben Kigame.

It is highly anricipated that he and advocate Otrieno will make another stab as a presidential ticket in 2027.

At Nakuru on New Year’s eve, Ruto did not hide his disgust at the litigants challenging his controversial taxation policies on housing, healthcare, and a host of others.

“This is what happens when a public servant, enjoying a house mortgage at a 3% interest rate, makes decisions that frustrate the housing programme, robbing millions of youth of employment prospects and denying millions of Kenyans the chance to own a home like them,”  said the President.

“It is the case when a politician neglects the boundaries of democratic competition that opposing policy does not permit undermining the nation or sabotaging the national interest or the  welfare of the people,” he said.

Yesterday, the President however adopted a conciliatory tone saying that the Executive he leads was not waging any war with the Judiciary.