Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua (left) and Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro
The fears of internal divisions that saw Mt Kenya relegated to the opposition in the 1992 and 1997 elections and stagnate in development have returned to haunt the region.
This follows a push by some leaders for the replacement of Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua as President William Ruto’s running mate in the 2027 elections and formation of a regional party to champion Mt Kenya interests.
In 1992, a move by Mt Kenya to field two strong candidates in Ford-Asili’s Kenneth Matiba and Democratic Party’s Mwai Kibaki allowed Kanu’s Daniel Arap Moi to extend his stranglehold on power.
In the polls, the first to feature a direct vote for President since independence, Moi garnered 1,962,866 or 36.35 per cent of the votes cast, as Matiba scooped 1,404,266 (26 per cent), followed by Kibaki at 1,050,617 (19.45 per cent) and Ford-Kenya’s Jaramogi Oginga Odinga with 944,197 (17.48 per cent).
In 1997, the opposition was further divided, enabling Moi to win with 40.40 per cent of the votes, followed by Kibaki (30.89 per cent), Raila Odinga (10.79 per cent), Michael Kijana Wamalwa (8.17 per cent) and Charity Ngilu (7.89 per cent).
Things only changed for Mt Kenya when it rallied behind Kibaki to give him a resounding win against Kanu’s Uhuru Kenyatta in 2002.
Kibaki romped back to power in the closely contested 2007 polls, narrowly beating Odinga before the region also successfully rallied behind Kenyatta in 2013 and 2017 and backed President Ruto in 2022.
The vote-rich region faces political turmoil following the emergence of a team pushing for Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro to replace Gachagua as President Ruto’s running mate in the 2027 polls.
The group, which has since toned down its push after President Ruto intervened and called for an end to the succession debate, also wanted Nyoro to be Mt Kenya presidential flag-bearer in 2032.
On Friday last week, a rattled Gachagua sought to silence his opponents in the presence of President Ruto.
“We have learnt our lessons from the 1992 and 1997 defeats and no one should push us to (fresh internal divisions),” he said.
Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua shakes hands with Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro during a fundraiser in Kigumo, Murang’a County on February 10, 2024.
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He denounced those pushing for a regional party and his replacement as DP as short-sighted, adding that they were out to destabilise the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party and the Kenya Kwanza Alliance.
“Our party is UDA. We should not start looking for another. As a country, we have moved away from tribal parties,” the DP said at Ihwagi in Mathira, Nyeri County, where President Ruto commissioned a water project.
Scoffing at MPs who have been criticising him, Gachagua told local leaders to stick to their constituencies and initiate development.
Nyeri Senator Wahome Wamatinga had said that had Mt Kenya joined the Kenya Kwanza Alliance through its own party, the region would have possessed better bargaining power.
However, addressing the crowd during President Ruto’s tour in Nyeri Town and Mathira, Wamatinga changed tune, pledging his support for the Head of State, Gachagua and UDA.
Nyoro, who addressed crowds in Nyeri Town and Mathira, also kept off the Ruto succession debate.
At Ihwahi in Mathira, which is Gachagua’s political backyard, Nyoro heaped praises on the government for investing in agriculture.
President William Ruto is handed the instruments of power by his predecessor Uhuru Kenyatta after he took the oath of office at Kasarani International Stadium on September 13, 2022
“The President has been pushing me to include in the budget Sh4 billion for the Coffee Cherry Fund, Sh7 billion for the fertiliser subsidy programme and another Sh2 billion for the elderly from next month,” said Nyoro, who chairs the powerful Parliamentary Budget Committee.
Speaking in Chinga when President Ruto launched an irrigation project, Othaya MP Wambugu Wainaina warned that internal divisions risked condemning the region to the political cold.
“We don’t want to experience what happened to us in 1992,” Wainaina said.
Kangema MP Peter Kihungi said Mt Kenya residents were fully behind the President and his deputy.
On Friday, President Ruto sought to rally his troops in the region that voted for him almost to a man.
He said he had completed the biggest hurdle that faced his fledgling administration by paying the country’s debts and resuscitating the economy and that it was now time for him to deliver on his campaign promises.
The Head of State urged MPs to pass the Affordable Housing Bill in the House.
“I learnt from Kibaki that the country cannot be developed by debts but through payment of taxes,” he said in Mathira.
National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wa expressed his confidence the housing Bill will sail through in the House tomorrow.
East Africa Legislative Assembly representative Kanini Kega said President Ruto had transformed the country and that Kenyans will soon appreciate his vision.
“You have made bold steps,” he told President Ruto.
There have muted complaints in the region over unfulfilled campaign promises, the stalling of some projects started by the Kenyatta administration, falling crop prices and the war against illicit brews that have seen bars closed and people lose their jobs.
Some UDA diehards were also said to be unhappy with the sharing of positions in the party, especially the secretary-general seat that went to former Kakamega Senator Cleophas Malala.
A push by some leaders for other areas in Mt Kenya like Murang’a to also produce a President has also sparked anxiety.
“Our success is in our unity,” the Deputy President said.
