Former Tigania West MP Dr. Kilemi Mwiria has sharply criticized Senior Counsel Ahmednasir Abdullahi over his recent remarks suggesting that Deputy President Kithure Kindiki adds little electoral value due to his minority community background.
Responding to Ahmednasir’s comments, Mwiria said he disagreed “for a different reason,” arguing that such views perpetuate one of Kenya’s most persistent political challenges—ethnic arithmetic in leadership selection.
Mwiria expressed concern that even highly educated and widely exposed individuals continue to promote the notion that national leadership must be anchored on ethnic numbers rather than merit.
He noted that this mindset undermines the principles of competence, integrity, and vision in public office.
“I have no personal stake in whether Kindiki stays or goes,” Mwiria stated, clarifying that his position was not politically motivated.
“My concern is with the argument that he should be removed because he comes from a minority community and therefore adds little electoral value.”
According to the former legislator, such reasoning reinforces exclusionary politics that have long defined Kenya’s electoral landscape.
He warned that reducing leadership to a numbers game sidelines more than thirty smaller communities, effectively locking them out of meaningful participation in the country’s highest offices.
“The consequence is predictable,” Mwiria said. “A handful of larger communities are repeatedly treated as the only realistic sources of presidential power, while others are left to negotiate for secondary roles.”
He further argued that decades of ethnic-based politics have not translated into national prosperity. Instead, he said, the approach has deepened divisions, fostered exclusion, and entrenched transactional governance.
Mwiria described the message sent to citizens from smaller communities as deeply troubling: that their chances of attaining the presidency are limited not by ability, but by ethnic identity.
In a pointed critique, he termed it “ironic” that Ahmednasir—whose own prominence stems from academic and professional achievement—would advocate for a framework that prioritizes tribal considerations over merit.
The debate comes amid heightened political discourse surrounding President William Ruto’s administration and the role of his deputy ahead of the 2027 general election.