A stalemate between Democracy for Citizens Party (DCP) leader Rigathi Gachagua and his elected loyalists over admission of defectors from President William Ruto’s United Democratic Alliance (UDA) has led to the formation of a seven-member vetting committee.
The committee, chaired by secretary-general designate John Methu comes after 18 sittings involving different delegations since June 16, 2026 when Mr Gachagua said he had commenced a 45-day conclave at his Wamunyoro Village home.
The 19th sitting was held at Outspan Hotel in Nyeri on August 2, 2026 but it too ended in a deadlock after Murang’a Senator Joe Nyutu led a protest walkout of 16 of the 22 present, leading to the formation of the vetting committee.
Mr Joe Nyutu.
Photo credit: Joseph Kanyi | Nation Media Group
Mr Methu revealed the other committee members are Mr Nyutu, Senator Karungo Thang’wa (Kiambu), Kirinyaga Woman Representative Njeri Maina, Naivasha MP Jayne Kihara and her Kipipiri counterpart Wanjiku Muhia (Kipipiri) and Benjamin Gathiru (Embakasi Central).
According to the Nyandarua senator, admitting defectors from UDA has become a hot potato in DCP with the clergy and elders applying pressure on Mr Gachagua to show unifying leadership in the maxim of gather all, scatter none.
“But the government side has been quoted publicly saying through Nandi Senator Samson Cherargei that it will sponsor infiltrators to vie in opposition parties especially in Mt Kenya region. How sure are we that such a move will not target DCP?” he posed.
He claimed that so far DCP has received 816 defection requests from government loyalists who allegedly include five Cabinet secretaries, eight principal secretaries, 83 National Assembly members, five senators, four governors and the rest being ward members and officers working in State corporations.
He said one of the qualifications to be considered for vetting is that such individuals make a public declaration that they will not vie on parties associated with President William Ruto in the 2027 General Election.
Mr Methu also said no defector will be allowed to go directly to the Party leader “since some of them after getting photographed with him are launching falsehoods on how they gave him hefty bribes in exchange for direct tickets, others secretly recording their conversations with him and selling the clips to the government".
He said the DCP support base has remained unforgiving in the Mt Kenya region to supporters of Mr Gachagua’s impeachment in October 2024 after he had served for two years as Deputy President.
“The supporters have also been very unforgiving against those leaders associated with allegations of sponsoring goons to attack DCP leaders and their rallies, especially those who were operating in Ol Kalou by-elections campaigns that resulted in the death of two civilians on July 16, 2026,” he said.
Newly-elected Ol Kalou MP Kamau Ngotho (DCP) told Nation that Mr Gachagua told the Outspan Hotel meeting that he had forgiven all those who voted to impeach him.
“Mr Gachagua acted on the advice of clergy and elders agreed that impeachment vote should not be used against any leader since, nationally he was partnering with Edwin Sifuna of Linda Mwananchi pressure group who too voted at the Senate to send him home as well as with former President Uhuru Kenyatta and Dr Fred Matiang’i who together had even arrested him severally in 2022 for political dissent,” Mr Ngotho said.
However, Mwea MP Ms Mary Maingi said the vetting was evidence of Gachagua fashioning himself as a demigod to dictate the political destinies of aspirants in the Mt Kenya region, adding that “it is only God who will decide who gets elected or not”.
Laikipia East MP Mr Mwangi Kiunjuri observed that it is not the first time that Mt Kenya region is undergoing a rampage of "dictatorial and condescending mobilisation”.
He said in the 2022 General Election, the region was under the UDA wave “but several, who included me, survived on The Service Party (TSP) while others got elected on Jubilee ticket”.
Laikipia East MP Mwangi Kiunjuri.
Photo credit: Joseph Kanyi | Nation Media Group
He added: “Likewise, Gachagua should not be too sure of himself… aspirants should not feel boxed into a corner by DCP… There is freedom of choice in the political market. The voters will vote for you on whatever party and Gachagua should not bully you into worshiping him”.
Mr Ngotho told Nation that the DCP leader was protecting his turf and the vetting is only for the willing.
He said getting admitted into DCP is not a right but a privilege earned through winning its leadership and existing members’ confidence.
“Gachagua followers are the ones who have prevailed upon him that he risked admitting into DCP government spies and saboteurs as well as expose loyalists who had stood with him and the party to imperfect competition in the hands of people who had accumulated lots of cash in government,” he said.
Naivasha MP Ms Jayne Kihara said the issue of defectors can only be summed up as acrimonious. She said Mr Gachagua’s inner circle is emotional about withstanding all the humiliation of impeachment and persecution by goons and rogue police officers only to end up welcoming the persecutors into their fold.
“It is then that we formed the vetting committee and agreed that the ‘traitors’ tag will only apply to those in the Mt Kenya voting bloc. Those outside the region will be admitted into DCP without conditions. That is how we unconditionally admitted Kajiado South MP Mr Sakimba Parashina into our fold,” she said.
She said that the committee agreed that those who have been associated with goons and rogue police officers as well as those who were campaigning in Ol Kalou should not waste their time seeking admission into DCP.
She said others not to be admitted are those “who have been in government meetings and never protested when demeaning terms and threats were issued to Mt Kenya voters”.
Mr Nyutu said there are elected leaders who despite being in government have so far remained reserved and have not been attacking Mr Gachagua and DCP.
“Those are the ones we will vet. There are those who are arguing that they went to President Ruto so as to get development for their regions… They will have to tell us whether those who remained firmly loyal to Mr Gachagua were not in need of that development,” he said.
Mr Nyutu said vetting of aspirants on DCP ticket for the 2027 election is critical since there is high likelihood that Mr Gachagua will enter into a coalition.
“Vetting is necessary because soon DCP will be in a coalition… Coalition relationship is fluid and many can change allegiance once elected. Vetting is for purposes of ascertaining loyalty, discipline and fidelity to the core values that drive Mt Kenya political, economic and social interests,” Mr Nyutu said.
Kiambu senator Karungo wa Thang'wa said the defectors issue had become a cohesion threat in the party and had to be treated with seriousness.
"Gachagua's insistence that we allow all willing to join us sparked an intense debate. We expressed fears of infiltration, sabotage and dismantling," he said.
Mr Thang'wa said there were strong feelings that genuine members were those who had stood with the people or the movement during its most difficult moments.
Kirinyaga Woman Representative Ms Njeri Maina told Nation that Mr Gachagua insisted that DCP is under pressure to project an image of a consultative, accommodating and fair entity.
Kirinyaga Woman Representative Njeri Maina addresses the media at Parliament Buildings in Nairobi on February 12, 2026.
Photo credit: Dennis Onsongo I Nation Media Group
She said DCP decisions must align with the people, especially in the consciousness that Mt Kenya voters are never led by their leaders rather they are the ones who dictate what wave the leaders should align with.
However, she added, the decision that was reached by the majority was that even if Mr Gachagua wanted to move together with everyone, there was need to have a vetting process to mitigate risks.
"The vetting process will be impartial and will rely on feedback from the electorate, with the Committee having rotational chairpersons and only acting as a guiding factor in the process and mimicking an adversarial system of approach,” she said.
“It is therefore not a money-making venture, its pure defined objective being to make a decision of whether to admit or not to. It shall not impose fines or demand admission fees,” she said.
