Didmus Barasa announces four-month break from DP Ruto’s ‘Hustler nation’
Kimilili lawmaker Didmus Barasa has announced he will not be part of the Tangatanga wing of politics for the next four months.
Tangatanga is a bloc of politicians within the ruling Jubilee party that supports Deputy President William Ruto’s bid to succeed President Uhuru Kenyatta in 2022.
The group is also referred as ‘Hutsler Nation’ and the MP has been viewed as the DP’s political pointman in the Western region.
Barasa also hinted, during a press briefing on Sunday, that he would be open to working with Musalia Mudavadi come 2022 ‘for the sake of the Luhya tribe unity’.
Mudavadi has also announced his bid to succeed President Kenyatta and is believed to have the backing of high-placed decision-makers in the country.
“I will not be involved in the high stakes politics for the next four months,” said Barasa.
“I have not quit the Hutsler Nation but will be taking a four-month leave as recently recommended by President Uhuru Kenyatta.
“President Kenyatta recently banned public rallies and engagements for the next 30 days, in a move he said was aimed at taming the spread of the coronavirus.
“I will be consulting with various stakeholders and like-minded leaders in the Luhya nation. I am keen to reconcile factions within the community so we can try and move in one direction. We have always been divided as a community and thus never gets to benefit,” added Barasa.
Barasa’s comments come amid reports of a split within DP Ruto’s inner circle after the UDA party, which they have been associated with, lost heavily in by-elections in two constituencies in Western Kenya. The party also failed miserably in a bid to capture a senatorial seat in Machakos.