Geoffrey Rigathi Gachagua may be out of the Kenya Kwanza government but his shadow still looms large in the corridors of power.
His allies who hold senior government positions have been bracing for dismissal since his impeachment and acrimonious exit from office in October last year, but the fear of lionising Mr Gachagua in the Mountain continues to restrain President William Ruto’s hand.
One man stands out like a sore thumb in the Cabinet – Justin Bedan Muturi, the Public Service Cabinet Secretary.
President Ruto’s inner circle is certain that the former Attorney-General will be shown the door, alongside other Gachagua loyalists.
The reorganisation of senior ranks of the Executive on Thursday was expected to have been the platform for a clean sweep but the President pulled back his punch once again.
Coming just days of a planned presidential tour of Mt Kenya, the feeling among Dr Ruto’s advisers was that sending a minister and senior government officials from the region home would have offered perfect fodder for hostility against him and his lieutenants.
“Half of the votes that propelled Dr Ruto to power in 2022 were from the Mountain. He cannot afford to ostracise the region, especially when he is dishing out government positions to the opposition,” said a Mt Kenya lawmaker who requested anonymity to freely discuss Dr Ruto’s political strategy.
By openly challenging his boss while refusing to resign, Mr Muturi has sought to straddle a precarious middle ground – criticising the government while trying to prove his worth while in it.
Mr Muturi’s daily social media posts highlighting his ministerial activities serve as a defence mechanism and a reminder of his continued relevance despite his boycott of Cabinet meetings.
“I have written and asked to be excused from Cabinet meetings until the agenda of abductions and extra-judicial killings is tabled in Parliament or Cabinet, so that the Cabinet can express itself and give the country a way forward,” the minister said last week.
The situation has presented Dr Ruto with a tough balancing act. He must look after the interests of his new-found political ally, Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) leader Raila Odinga while doing damage control in the post-Gachagua Mt Kenya.
The President is keen to show the Mountain that his differences with Mr Gachagua do not extend to residents.
Any purge against a government official from his backyard, especially at PS or CS level, would be sure ammunition for him to remind the Mountain that the President does indeed “hate” the region.
“We will make whatever sacrifices necessary to ensure that William Ruto is a one-term president,” Mr Gachagua is fond of saying.
The former DP has led a concerted anti-Ruto campaign in the Mountain, and the message is gaining traction.
Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua during the launch of DAP-K new headquarters at Karen, Nairobi on January 27, 2025.
Photo credit: Lucy Wanjiru | Nation Media Group
Mr Emmanuel Talam, the State House press secretary, yesterday sought to play down reports of an imminent purge of Cabinet Secretaries and the Gachagua factor in the delay.
“I am not aware of any Cabinet Secretaries being sent home,” Mr Talam said.
This, along with other factors, may have bought some time for those marked for dismissal, informed by the need not to exacerbate an already fluid situation.
The President has created at least four new departments in the Executive arm of the government to accommodate Mr Odinga’s allies as PSs, while avoiding pushing out Mr Gachagua-recommended appointees when they first formed the government in 2022.
While the trick has worked for the PS, where the law does not directly tie the President’s hands on the maximum number he can name, he may not be so lucky when it comes to appointing or reshuffling Cabinet Secretaries.
States Article 152 (d) of the Constitution: “The Cabinet shall consist of not less than 14 and not more than 22 Cabinet Secretaries.”
Some of President Ruto’s strategists who oppose the tour of Mt Kenya, arguing that the horse has bolted and that the precious time to visit the region would be better spent appeasing new fronts in Mr Odinga’s political strongholds.
The President, his handlers say, is still convinced that he is within reach of at least 40 per cent support in Mt Kenya West and a majority support in the East.
His support in the Mountain in the 2022 election was second only to his home turf in the Rift Valley, but that has changed since he led his Kenya Kwanza troops in the National Assembly and Senate to impeach Mr Gachagua.
President William Ruto and the politics of Mount Kenya region.
When he embarks on the six-day visit to the sulking region at the end of this month, President Ruto is sure to face a different Mountain to the one he left behind last time.
In just 30 months, the region has gone from being a Ruto stronghold, voting for him by an overwhelming 87 per cent in 2022, to being the most vicious opposition zone.
The region has not softened its opposition even after it was given back the deputy presidency post through the appointment of Prof Kithure Kindiki.
It has instead become radical in its opposition to President Ruto’s regime, booing him in churches and refusing his condolence messages at solemn occasions like funerals.
But the President now says he is ready to face the region he has avoided for more than six months during which he reached out to Mr Odinga and included him in the Cabinet through the formation what the two call the broad-based government.
Laikipia East MP Mwangi Kiunjuri said yesterday that the recent State House meeting between leaders from Mt Kenya and the President okayed his visit.
“We met the President and – despite fears that he might not be welcome – we convinced him that the negative emotions have subsided and our people are ready to meet him,” Mr Kiunjiri told the Saturday Nation.
Former Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mwangi Kiunjuri.
Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group
Responding to concerns that President Ruto should confine himself to controlled meetings, the Laikipia East lawmaker said: “Dr Ruto will meet us in open fields as he has done in other regions.”
“In our meeting with the President, it was decided that those of us who support his policies will and mobilise our people to meet him.”
The Service Party boss added that the leaders agreed to compile a list of projects that have been completed, the strategic ones that are ongoing and the proposed new ones Dr Ruto would visit.
“We insisted that the President do the visit as he did in Western, North Eastern, Coast and Nyanza,” Mr Kiunjuri said.
“We want to see him address us openly and in our villages as he gives us hope and assures us that our development agenda is on course.”
He said President Ruto had asked his loyalists in Mt Kenya to ensure they do not entertain sibling rivalry during the tour.
“We agreed that we will organise ourselves well for the reception and help the President get the highest level of welcome. The leaders agreed that in the next 10 days we will ensure that we prepare the ground for the President and that every county submits its wish list,” he said.
“When you visit, ensure projects that directly affect people’s are initiated to soften their position,” the leader is reported to have said.
This advice is based on the fact that Mr Gachagua has advised the region to cut ties with the president and his ruling United Democratic Alliance party.
He has promised his supporters to wait for a political party that he will launch in May, to mount his anti-Ruto second term bid.
Deputy Senate Speaker Kathuri Murungi says leaders promised the President that they have no business opposing his visit. Kiambu MP Mary wa Muratha has started mobilising residents to receive the President.
Mbeere South MP Geoffrey Ruku said leaders from Mt Kenya have given Dr Ruto his job scorecard, adding that they told him his achievements and failures.
He added that "we told him that our people are happy with the improved coffee, tea and dairy yields, the ongoing affordable housing projects, the ongoing economic stimulus markets as well as infrastructure projects".
Mbeere North MP Geoffrey Ruku chats with Deputy President Prof Kithure Kindiki.
Photo credit: Pool
Mr Ruku added that "the President assured us that he has no intention of sidelining Mt Kenya... He said he has a job description in the mountain that ends in 2027 and he will be faithful to it".
Mr Ruku said that "the President said he intends to visit us from 31 March to 6 April 2025, depending on the weather".
Kirinyaga Central MP Mr Gachoki Gitari said "we were made aware that it is our responsibility as his supporters to see how the President is received".
"He told us that he expects to psychologically prepare our people to expect development but not politics... that the tour has nothing to do with 2027 politics but the implementation of the principles of a working nation".
"We have started mobilising... even in Nyeri County which is perceived to be the epicentre of resistance".
