Rigathi Gachagua arrives at Kiamwathi Anglican Church in Kirinyaga County for the service of Annah Wanjiru Munyi, the grandmother of Baragwi MCA David Mathenge.
When a giant tree falls in the forest, it topples others in its wake and more often than not, vines and other plants that depended on it for survival wither and die.
That's the fate of loyalists of deposed Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua or those he brought with him into government as President William Ruto mulls over reshuffling his government to not only take care of new partners like ODM's Raila Odinga but also to ensure that those who remain have no questionable loyalty to him.
Such civil servants face a bleak future, with indications that the Public Service Commission will soon advertise for Principal Secretaries (PS) amid reports of a mini Cabinet reshuffle.
The broad-based government means that Mr Odinga and his troops will have to be accommodated, with reports that he may have been promised at least 10 Principal Secretary slots as part of the deal to support the government both inside and outside Parliament. Five Cabinet Secretary slots
The same is expected to cascade down to the level of heads of parastatals.
There's almost a consensus that without Mr Odinga's support, President Ruto wouldn't have dared to go for Mr Gachagua. Not only did Mr Odinga’s camp provide the numbers in Parliament, but it also offered a political buffer to deal with any backlash the impeachment might bring, and now there's talk that the deal is meant to cover Dr Ruto beyond the 2027 elections when he's expected to run for a second and final term.
Senior government officials
Also waiting in the wings are the ANC and Ford Kenya parties linked to Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi and National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang'ula, whose support came in handy during the president's impeachment.
It has been a tough few weeks for Gachagua's friends, especially the senior government officials he had placed in their positions and the contractors who may have won business here and there by invoking his name. The most aggressive move was the sending of 108 senior staff on compulsory leave and blocking the access of their junior colleagues. The next step is expected to target those higher up across the government. Parliamentary committees are also said to be in the crosshairs.
They are now being forced to go back to the drawing board, with some quickly working their way out to switch allegiances as their man now has little or nothing to offer them.
But amid swirling reports of a purge, State House on Saturday evening sought to reassure worried civil servants that they were not being targeted in any way.
"The support for the impeachment of the former deputy president was almost universal, you can't reduce it to one region, one county or one constituency. Nobody is being targeted, the people you are referring to are government officials and they continue to work without any witch-hunt, hindrance or fear - they have done nothing wrong," Mr Munyori Buku, the head of the Presidential Communications Service, told Nation. Africa.
ODM has also taken the same line, with deputy party leader and Vihiga Senator Godfrey Osotsi saying they do not expect any reward from Dr Ruto for sending Mr Gachagua home.
"ODM MPs and Senators did not support the impeachment motion because of any expectations or expected benefits. Our members simply exercised their personal discretion guided by the shared values and beliefs of the ODM party. ODM's belief in social justice and equity which is in stark contrast to the former DP's position on shareholding and tribalism," he said.
Public and private pronouncements by the president's men have all the hallmarks of a looming reshuffle whose effects will be felt far and wide.
Kenya Kwanza regime
With Mr Gachagua now out of government and likely to train his guns on the Kenya Kwanza regime, another hydra has emerged whose head must be chopped off.
"I will show you the way forward. I do not want our people to be afraid. God is faithful and can't be defeated," a defiant Gachagua told residents of Mount Kenya, his backyard, on Saturday.
Winnie Mitullah, a research professor of development studies at the University of Nairobi, argues that in politics, people come in as a package and go out as such.
"It would be sad for him (Dr Ruto) to do an open purge, but you know in politics they throw the baby out with the bathwater. You can understand why he would want to go that route - Gachagua is now an enemy and you don't want to dine with people who, under the cover of darkness, are feeding your enemies to fight you. The tremor caused by the impeachment is for the state and the country, it goes beyond Gachagua," said Prof Mitullah.
Indeed, a number of bureaucrats loyal to Mr Gachagua have already been stung by the impeachment motions, with some almost certain to be given marching orders soon.
Mr Odinga flies back into the country on Sunday, November 3 and is expected to meet President William Ruto before flying again to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to officially launch his campaigns for the chairmanship of the African Union Commission.
Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Dr Korir Sing'oei said the country was ready for Mr Odinga's campaign launch on November 8.
"The launch will mainly involve Addis-based diplomats. We will brief them on the candidate's concrete plans to elevate the AU, enhance its prestige and position it as the anchor negotiator for Africa vis-à-vis other regions in the context of an emerging and complex multipolar world," Dr Sing'oei said.
In recent months, since the rapprochement between Mr Odinga and the President, there has been intense lobbying, with potential job seekers flocking to Odinga's offices on Capitol Hill in Nairobi.
It is not just the Capitol Hill Square office that is busy, his Karen home is even busier as people adjust to the new order. His handlers told us that the development is only similar to when Mr Odinga was Prime Minister or during his handshake days with former President Uhuru Kenyatta.
In his statement, Mr Odinga's spokesman Denis Onyango attributed the development to a cocktail of issues that converged and brought people to Mr Odinga. He said these issues have happened almost simultaneously because of the many hats he is currently wearing.
"There are ODM issues, people lobbying for positions that have become vacant and even those that have been filled following the recent departure of some officials. There are those who want to hear directly from him about the latest political developments.
"Then there are those who have come to offer support and ideas in his quest for the chairmanship of the AU Commission after he formally submitted his application last week. Some think he is a senior government official and can help them with their problems with the government.
"In reality, he is not. Then there are personal friends who come to check on him and catch up, he has been away and will be away for a while. It is a mix of issues and expectations," said Mr Onyango.
The same lobbying was seen in the run-up to the naming of the new cabinet in July. In the end, Mr Odinga ended up with five Cabinet secretaries from his ODM party. Dr Ruto was forced to dissolve his Cabinet to assuage public anger, largely fuelled by the Gen-Z protests that nearly toppled his government.
Nation understands that changes at PS level were put on hold until Mr Gachagua was removed (it was already in the pipeline), which has just happened, hence the renewed unrest in the executive.
Mr Gachagua put forward a number of candidates for both the CS and PS positions, proposals that were easily accepted by his boss since all was well between them at the time.
Mr Gachagua alluded to the impending purge a few days ago, just before Prof Kindiki was sworn in to replace him in Kiambu County.
He said: "It is not me they are fighting. It is the House of Mumbi (Central Kenya). They are now out to frustrate and target those who were close to me. They want to make sure that I have no footprints in all the offices.... that it is as if I have done nothing in these two years.”
A number of advisors and staff, about 108 in all working at Mr Gachagua’s Harambee House Annex, whose contracts were tied to the former DP's, have been sent packing.
The lawyer for the 108, Soyinka Lempaa, argues, "it is political victimisation where the only crime they have committed is to be associated with employment in the office of the Deputy President. Yet they are not on trial.”
Nyandarua Senator John Methu says: "They are even talking of removing Gachagua loyalists from committees in the National Assembly and Senate...I also hear that they will go after those they think are allies of Mr Gachagua...It is as if they have started in Nyeri and Kiambu counties where some National Government Administration Officers have since been transferred".
Before his dismissal, Mr Gachagua's detractors had accused him of theatrical victimisation, of blackmailing his boss and of trying to sabotage the very government he'd been elected as the second in command.
But to him, he is only guilty of taking the high road in a regime he claims is guilty of many injustices and stifling civil liberties, citing the eviction of locals from the banks of the Nairobi River with little or no compensation.
The country is yet to see the end of this.
