Milking development, not drama: How Nyeri woman rep is navigating Gachagua's Mt Kenya politics
Nyeri Woman Representative Rahab Mukami joins widows in a dance on International Widows Day at Kiamuiru, Nyeri County, on June 27, 2025. She says she has aligned with the government to 'milk development' for Nyeri residents.
What you need to know:
- Nyeri Woman Representative Rahab Mukami has chosen a development-first approach amid a bitter political falling-out with former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, prioritising service delivery over open confrontation.
- Her decision to endorse—but later abstain from voting on—Gachagua’s impeachment has polarised Mt Kenya opinion, casting her as both traitor and principled leader navigating the constraints of party politics.
Her name means “one who milks”. At 51, serving her second term as Nyeri woman representative, Rahab Mukami has turned that meaning into a political philosophy.
While DCP leader Rigathi Gachagua, who is from the same county, campaigns openly for her downfall, she responds not with fire but with milk coolers, transport vehicles, and water harvesting tanks delivered to her constituents.
“Confrontation is not me,” she says. “I am busy milking development from this government for the benefit of our people. Transforming lives is more important than politicking.”
It is a stance that has made her a polarising figure in a region where political loyalty is measured in bloodlines and betrayal is neither forgiven nor forgotten.
Impeachment rupture
Mukami won her second term in style, garnering 88 per cent of the votes cast. But that mandate has since been tested by her conduct during the October 2024 impeachment of Gachagua. She initially endorsed the motion brought by Kibwezi West MP Mwengi Mutuse, a decision that placed her squarely against Mr Gachagua. Then, when the vote came, she abstained.
“I realised that people in Nyeri and Mt Kenya in general were against that impeachment,” she explains. “I also realised the grounds being raised in the motion were reconcilable. I abstained from the vote, urging dialogue to be given a chance.”
However, the about-turn did not spare her. Mr Gachagua has refused to forgive, and in his political incursions across Nyeri County, he singles her out as a community traitor, actively campaigning for her defeat in 2027. The falling-out has further divided opinion in the county.
Voices of judgment
Eunice Wakarindi, 65, from Mathira, represents the wounded faithful. “I have always supported Mukami,” she says. “But of late she has digressed. She is not aligning with our political passions. In her political life, she has been fighting from the same terraces with the Gachagua family and winning acceptance among Nyeri people. But once in politics, when she endorsed the motion to impeach Mr Gachagua, she terribly hurt my heart.”
Others see nuance where Wakarindi sees betrayal. Stephen Muguro from Othaya describes Mukami as “a leader whose second thought is strong” and one who “is always remorseful if and when she finds herself justifiably corrected”.
Damaris Muthoni, who coordinates Mt Kenya people living with disabilities, offers a structural defence. She argues that Mukami was caught in an impossible position created by the architecture of party politics itself.
“Mr Gachagua took his region into President Ruto's government while riding in his United Democratic Alliance (UDA),” Muthoni explains. “Our laws are such that Dr Ruto, as the owner of UDA, had to whip all his members to support the impeachment. If Gachagua had his own party that sponsored Mt Kenya elected leaders, he would have whipped his own members to fight off the impeachment.”
To Muthoni, Mukami is “a victim who showed remorse when she defied President Ruto by abstaining from voting to impeach Gachagua”. She urges the former deputy president to “stop fighting this hapless leader who, even in the face of outright hostile politics, remains quiet, not fighting back”.
Milking the government
Mukami frames her continued alliance with the Ruto administration in transactional terms. “During the last budget-making process by the National Treasury, there was a huge cry that Mt Kenya had been allocated the lion's share of the national cake,” she says. “If there are no people out to protect those allocations, they can be rescheduled. That is one reason that will not make me leave the government.”
She points to her track record of development: bursaries disbursed to students, water harvesting tanks distributed to families, golden Hass avocado seedlings issued to farmers, blankets given to the elderly, and capital boosts channelled to women's groups through her National Government Affirmative Action Fund and other sourced funds.
“As I get insulted in the political and social media arena, I deliver milk coolers, milk transport vehicles, and rush to respond to distress calls like house fires that are on the increase in Nyeri County,” she says.
Agriculture remains central to her vision. “Any time the rain season commences, I roll out a campaign to encourage everyone to plant trees, especially fruit trees, which will not only provide nutrition but also become a source of income in the future,” she explains. “Investing in agriculture is one way of uplifting rural economies.”
Before venturing into elective politics, Mukami served as director at Ramaca Investment Limited. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Leadership and Management from St Paul’s University and completed a certificate programme in emerging economies at Harvard Business School. She is also a member of the Pan-African Parliament and was recently included in the African Union Delegation for the Election Observer Mission in Tanzania during the recent general election.
Faith and fortitude
Her foundation is spiritual. She finds refuge in Isaiah 40:31: “But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint.”
“This verse reminds us that hope in the Lord brings renewed strength and endurance,” she says. “This far is God. I am grateful, and serving the gender card is my gratification.”
She advocates issues-based politics and condemns incitement and divisive rhetoric, urging the youth and fellow politicians to prioritise development and unity. She argues that political vilification should be categorised as gender-based violence and fought with the same zeal as outdated cultural practices.
“What will my people and I gain if I get into the habit of fighting evil with evil?” she asks. “There is everything to gain when you pursue peace over turmoil.”
She offers a cryptic warning shaped by experience: “Life is interesting. In politics, sometimes it is your friends who keep your enemies updated. Be careful.”
Maendeleo Mashinani
For now, her focus remains grassroots development under the banner of Mukami Maendeleo Mashinani, whose key areas are education support through bursaries for financially disadvantaged students at secondary and tertiary levels; economic empowerment through distribution of tools and equipment to women, youth, and people with disabilities; and housing support through mobilising resources for construction of homes for vulnerable families.
As for 2027, she says her track record will inform her next course of political action. Muthoni, the disability coordinator, hopes residents will look beyond the current storm. “I hope Nyeri people will cease emotional politics and look out for those genuinely pursuing quality of lives for the people,” she says. “Mukami is among those who serve humanity as a passion.”
Whether the voters will agree when the time comes remains to be seen. For now, the woman representative, whose name means "one who milks", continues her work, extracting what she can from a government Mr Gachagua helped build, in a region where that choice has made her both champion and pariah.
