Ichung’wah turns Uhuru’s ‘sponyo’ joke into a policy attack

The majority leader uses a cooperative launch in Kieni to reframe the sponsorship debate around farmers, not political feuds

By James Mwangi

National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wah yesterday drew a sharp distinction between sponsoring farmers and sponsoring politicians, using the launch of the Kieni West Onion Farmers Cooperative to turn former President Uhuru Kenyatta’s lighthearted embrace of the “sponyo” label into a substantive political indictment.

The remarks came one day after Kenyatta drew laughter at a funeral in Kiharu, Murang’a County, by apparently accepting the nickname — derived from “sponsor” — that President William Ruto and his allies have used to suggest the former president is funding opposition activities ahead of the 2027 general election. Where Kenyatta played the moment for laughs, Ichung’wah played it for politics.

“We are not sponsors of politicians. And if we were sponsors, we would be sponsors of the Kenyan farmer and the ordinary citizen,” Ichung’wah said at the cooperative launch. “We cannot be sponsors of politicians who have no policies and direction.”

The reframe is deliberate and timely. With Kenya now less than a year from a general election in August 2027, the ruling administration is working to define the opposition not merely as a political threat but as a philosophical failure — a movement driven by money and personal ambition rather than coherent proposals for government. Ichung’wah’s choice of venue reinforced that message. A cooperative of onion farmers in Kieni is not a political rally; it is exactly the kind of grassroots economic institution the government wants associated with its record.

“We should continue being sponsors of farmers. They get seeds, they get fertiliser, they get markets,” he said, drawing a deliberate contrast with what he characterised as the transactional nature of opposition political financing.

He did not stop at the rhetorical. Ichung’wah used the platform to mount a direct critique of the Kenyatta administration’s record, accusing it of leaving Universal Health Coverage and the Big Four Agenda unfinished. He pointed to the transition from the National Hospital Insurance Fund to the Social Health Authority as evidence of a government willing to do what its predecessor only promised. “SHA has 32 million Kenyans enrolled today,” he said, contrasting that figure with approximately eight million under the old NHIF system.

On housing, Ichung’wah said the Affordable Housing Programme had expanded well beyond the initial projects inherited from the previous administration, with developments now under way in Nyeri County and in more than 280 constituencies. “What you failed to do is what is being done today,” he said.

His challenge to the opposition was pointed but not without political calculation. “You do not need to support anybody, but please give those who have the temerity to do what matters to the people of Kenya time to do,” Ichung’wah said — an appeal that doubles as a warning to anyone considering the 2027 race to come armed with policy, not patronage.

In a political season where the word “sponyo” has become both insult and badge of honour depending on who is saying it, Ichung’wah has chosen to make it mean something specific: the difference between building a country and buying a constituency.

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