Nominated MP Joseph Wainaina Under Fire Over Rift Valley Remarks
September 2026
Nominated Member of Parliament Joseph Wainaina Iraya, a lawmaker allied to the ruling United Democratic Alliance (UDA), is facing sharp criticism after telling a gathering in Eldoret, Uasin Gishu that people opposed to President William Ruto’s re-election bid should leave the Rift Valley and only return after the 2027 polls. The Daily Nation reports that his comments have set off demands for the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) to summon and investigate him.
What makes the episode notable, in the paper’s telling, is Wainaina’s own history. He was displaced during past ethnic clashes and has spent years working on peace-building in the North Rift, efforts that earned him public recognition for promoting coexistence between communities. That background is now colliding with accusations that his own words risk reopening old wounds.
Political Fallout Widens
The backlash spread fast. Githunguri MP Gathoni Wamuchomba condemned the remarks on Facebook and has since gone further, warning that a section of Mt Kenya leaders could pull their support for President Ruto entirely. Citizen Digital reported that Wamuchomba gave the government a three-day window to arrest both Wainaina and Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale over separate hate-speech allegations.
“The time for Kenya to rapture is coming if nothing is done,” Wamuchomba said, questioning why leaders allied to the administration seemed shielded from the same scrutiny applied to government critics.
Duale’s own controversy comes from separate remarks in Lafey Constituency, where he praised the Kenya Kwanza government partly in Somali and used a proverb referencing a hyena. Per People Daily’s coverage, critics read the line as a veiled jab at the Kikuyu community, sparking criticism from leaders in the Mt Kenya region even though Duale’s own explanation was not detailed in that report.
Jubilee Party has formally asked the NCIC to open an inquiry into Wainaina’s remarks. Uasin Gishu News, citing the party’s statement, said the language was “reckless, it is divisive, and it is dangerous” and drew comparisons to the 2007/08 post-election violence that killed more than 1,000 people and displaced hundreds of thousands nationwide.
Wainaina Denies Threatening Anyone
Wainaina disputes the framing entirely. In a statement posted partly in the Kikuyu dialect, he said his words had been taken out of context and distorted for political ends, insisting he never called for anyone’s displacement.
He pointed to his own experience of the 2007 violence, including burying people who lost their lives, as the reason he would never wish for a repeat. “We are peaceful at the moment,” he said, while appealing to younger politicians critical of him to leave his name out of their campaigns.
Local leaders in Uasin Gishu have not let the matter rest either. Huruma Ward MCA Kimani Wanjohi led a group condemning the remarks as unbecoming of a sitting legislator, and Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro joined the criticism, arguing that leaders should win votes through persuasion rather than intimidation.
NCIC Pressure Builds
So far, there is no confirmed word on whether the NCIC will formally summon Wainaina, and the commission’s next move remains an open question even as Wamuchomba’s three-day ultimatum ticks down. Whether Mt Kenya leaders actually follow through on threats to withdraw support from Ruto, or whether this settles into another passing political storm, will likely become clearer within days rather than weeks.
