Mt Kenya MPs who voted for the impeachment of Rigathi Gachagua have found themselves in a major political dilemma - whether to face their hostile electorate or stay away from their constituencies during the ongoing long recess that ends in February.
The region has turned hostile in the wake of Mr Gachagua's impeachment, with residents expressing open contempt for leaders who voted for his impeachment.
After Mr Gachagua was impeached on October 17, 2024, and replaced by Prof Kithure Kindiki, relations between those who voted to send him home and residents have been frosty.
Scenes of residents booing, heckling, jeering and, in extreme cases, getting physical with some of these leaders have been commonplace.
After Mr Gachagua was impeached and replaced by Prof Kithure Kindiki, political pundits suggested that it could be a plan to divide the mountain into East (where Prof Kindiki hails from) and West (where Mr Gachagua hails from).
"This has failed and we expect the politics in it to be revived during this recess. But my antennae on the ground are laughing at the gimmick. It will not work, just as it has refused to work for the past month since they impeached Mr Gachagua," said Githunguri MP Gathoni wa Muchomba.
She continued: "We are at a critical moment where anytime from January we will have made our political intentions clearer for the avoidance of doubt that we have accepted all the aggressions against our people and the country as a whole, moved on and are now focused on pushing for change."
It is this toxic environment that Mr Gachagua has used to rally the people of the area to remain loyal to him and await his political direction.
Mr Gachagua has set himself a February deadline to come up with that political direction, strongly hinting that it will be against President William Ruto , his government and his loyalists in the region.
"I want all the people of Mount Kenya to remain united like cement. Take note and record all those among us who have betrayed our community by doing what the ground is against," Mr Gachagua said recently in Murang'a County.
He urged people in the area to remain determined to teach the 'rebels' a political lesson come 2027.
Among those who have pointed out that Mr Gachagua is hell-bent on making the break more agonising for President Ruto's loyalists is nominated MP Sabina Chege.
The nominated MP said the Jubilee Party to which she belongs will use the recess to try and reconnect with the people.
Ms Chege was among those who voted in favour of the 2024 Finance Bill and the impeachment of Mr Gachagua.
She said the issues have thrown the mountain region into an emotional state, hoping that the people will allow the elected leaders to carry out their mandate which ends in 2027.
She said parts of the mountain are currently hostile to the leaders, with discontent being expressed through heckling.
She urged residents to realise that elected leaders come with devolved kits and being hostile to them will only shortchange the grassroots. The MP also believes it is important for the Mountain to make friends with the President.
"We are the majority in this government, we don't want to be told about a new party and directions next year. What we want to hear is how we are going to benefit," said Ms Chege.
She said she looked forward to political stakeholders in the mountain coming together to unite the region and focus on development instead of politics.
"We are told that we are organising while we are baptising ourselves with the names of freedom fighters... Others are calling others traitors. We are openly strategising," she added.
But Nyandarua Senator John Methu hit back at those in the President's camp who cried foul and instead devised ways to gain favour with those they had wronged.
"Mr Gachagua was very vocal in the two years he was in the Deputy Presidency that wise leaders listen to the ground. Those who thought he was hallucinating have now realised that they made a grave mistake," he said.
Mr Methu added that "having wronged the people, the leaders concerned need not criticise Mr Gachagua who is only acting on behalf of the sentiments of the people of the area".
He dismissed Ms Chege's criticism of Mr Gachagua as "typical of a seasoned rebel who joins unpopular causes only to come back home with creative narratives that are fairy tales at best".
He said, "In 2022, she left the pulse of the mountain that was for Dr Ruto for the presidency and instead threw her lot with Mr Raila Odinga who lost the election".
He said Ms Chege came back to fight former President Uhuru Kenyatta for control of the Jubilee Party.
"After going against the ground to vote for the Finance Bill and Gachagua's impeachment, she should be the last to lecture and pretend to advise us. She should deal with her problems on the ground as quietly as she made those wrong decisions," he said.
Ms Chege said: "This should be a moment of reconciliation, of coming together for the common good of the electorate through advocacy for development.
National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichung'wa, confirming that members would resume on February 11, 2025, said the recess would be interesting.
"We are now going to face our people and interact with them, share Christmas goodies with them and most importantly dialogue with them," he said.
Mr Ichung'wah joked that he expected members to have peaceful ground sessions and that "to a certain extent we will be revitalised and even gain some weight".
He described what he expects as "a moment to rest, rejuvenate and reconnect with our families... where we will not be afraid to go out and share with the constituents and even the church".
Kiambu Senator Karungo Thang'wa said the political debate in the region would remain alive and burning until the 2027 polls.
"If you have betrayed the mountain, there is no place to hide. If you have acted against the aspirations of Kenyans, your days are numbered. It's not personal, it's just business," said Mr Thang'wa.
He added that all Mr Gachagua loyalists would remain vigilant and vocal against those who might come to the villages to lure people with goodies.
The vocal Gachagua loyalist added: "We are also aware that the state machinery is all over our lives... those who support Mr Gachagua... we are being followed, intimidated and threatened with arrest.
On residents heckling politicians, Mr Thang'wa said, "It is up to those being heckled to get feedback on how they are rated by their bosses who are the voters".
Nyeri Town MP Duncan Mathenge, who also faced hostile mobs after playing a pivotal role in the impeachment of Mr Gachagua, said leadership was about making painful decisions.
"I see the mountain as a flock of sheep - figuratively, not in any way demeaning. As a shepherd, I have heard a pack of lions roaring at the top of the mountain. It is my duty not to take my sheep there while the marauding lions are still there," he said.
Mr Mathenge said the lawmakers' decision to kick out Mr Gachagua was akin to the wisdom of not taking sheep where lions are lurking.
Laikipia East MP Mwangi Kiunjuri believes that "all negative emotions in the mountain must end and residents should join the rest of Kenyans for unity of purpose".
He said politicians allied to Ruto would work hard to sensitise people to the dangers of bad politics being fed to them by selfish leaders.
"Those who show love to the President benefit from public resources while we miss out when we mock even the President," he said.
"We as residents have no problem with the President. The president's loyalists want to make it look like Mt Kenya is against the president or that we are in opposition," he said.
He said residents would continue to demand good governance, services, quality of life, good incomes, respect from the government and its agents and freedom to choose where they want to go next in 2027 and other upcoming elections.
