President William Ruto and ex-Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua during their tour of the Nyanza region.
Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua’s camp has raised six grievances causing unease in the government as allies of President William Ruto plot how to counter the DP’s growing influence amid discontent in Mount Kenya.
Mr Gachagua’s campaign to rally the region appears to be winning him new allies with Murang'a Senator Joe Nyutu and Gatanga MP Edward Muriu the latest of his fierce critics to switch camps.
Statements by Mr Gachagua’s allies suggest his faction has framed its grievances around demands to respect the Deputy President and stop schemes to undermine his office, including through budget cuts and an end to a campaign to malign his Mt Kenya unity cause.
Nyeri Governor Mutahi Kahiga has persistently stated that "we stood by Dr Ruto when he was being harassed by his boss, President Uhuru Kenyatta. We trust that President Ruto will not choose the same path of harassing his deputy and his associates."
Implementation of economic charters that the Kenya Kwanza coalition signed with Mt Kenya, among other regions in the run-up to the 2022 elections, is another issue that is linked to the DP's executive mandate to champion agricultural reforms in coffee, tea, and dairy sectors.
Naivasha MP Jayne Kihara said, "the recent slashing of the coffee reforms budget from Sh200 million to only Sh6 million raises concerns.”
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"We need to understand whether there is an attempt within the government to undermine Gachagua's efforts and create discord between him and the people. It is unreasonable to expect Gachagua to give results without adequate resources," Ms Kihara argued.
State machinery
The Deputy President’s camp has also demanded the police, including the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and National Intelligence Service (NIS), not be used to manage politics, including State-sponsored abductions.
Abuse of the State machinery by powerful individuals to intimidate those supporting Mr Gachagua, and respect for court orders are other demands by his allies.
MPs Benjamin Gathiru (Embakasi Central) and James Gakuya (Embakasi North) claim that the DCI has defied court orders to return their mobile phones confiscated during an investigation into alleged financiers of anti-government demonstrations.
"The DCI should not take the country backward on harassment of political leaders. They must be professional and deal with a crime following the law,” Mr Gachagua stated on Sunday after the two MPs had publicly complained about harassment by the DCI.
“We are demanding basic decorum from those men and women from the State House. We are not begging, but demanding that the era of politics marked by disrespect, abductions, and intimidation must come to an end by whatever means,” Mr Gathiru told Nation.Africa on Sunday.
"It is concerning that the DCI is not respecting court orders, as evidenced by their refusal to release my phone despite clear directives from the courts. If an MP can be subjected to such intimidation, it raises serious concerns about the treatment of ordinary Kenyans," Mr Gakuya added.
“The courage and bravado shown by Ichung'wa in abusing the deputy president reeks of authority from high up government pecking order,” Maragua MP Mary wa Maua told Nation.Africa.
She was referring to National Assembly Majority Leader Mr Kimani Ichung'wa, who is leading a faction allied to President Ruto, that has stepped up the onslaught against the Deputy President.
Respect the DP
Mr Gachagua’s unrelenting campaign to unite Mt Kenya with a call to regional leaders to listen to the grassroots sentiments appears to be gaining traction.
Mr Nyutu and Mr Muriu, formerly two vocal critics of the DP, and associated with Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro’s camp, joined Mr Gachagua for a church service in Kayole on Sunday.
Mr Nyutu, who had in the past called for the sacking of Mr Gachagua, said ''we are demanding that the deputy president be respected by all.”
"We have decided to walk with the deputy president. I realised he is being fought by some leaders because of fighting for the plight of the people at the grassroots," the Senator added.
Mr Muriu who also demanded for Mr Gachagua’s ouster, said "the deputy president has been put on trial and his crime is uniting Mt Kenya people so that they can lobby for development in their areas.”
“If the DP is guilty, we are also guilty. He has united the people of Mt Kenya so that they can push their agenda. Those planning to fight the DP must take note of Article 148 of the Constitution, which says the president and the deputy president are elected on one ticket. You can't disparage the deputy president and claim you support the President,” Mr Muriu said.
Former Laikipia East Woman Rep, Cate Waruguru, confirmed the ultimatum to Nation.Africa on Sunday that "there are those walking around Mt Kenya referring to themselves as President's loyalists but progressing politics of deceit and conmanship"
Ms Waruguru said such politics have no place in Mt Kenya and the whole country at large "and if need be, we will consider 2022 to have been a bad birth that needs new pushing in 2027 for the ideal birth of a government that suits all of us.”
On the other hand, President Ruto’s faction led by Mr Ichung'wa has planned caravans in the region to push back the damaging narrative by their rivals.
Personal interests
Given that Mr Gachagua has said he was mandated by the president to ensure agricultural reforms to benefit farmers, the president’s loyalists now want to task the second in command to deliver.
Speaking in Murang'a on Saturday, Mr Ichung'wa defended his cause saying he is only protecting President Ruto's government against being blackmailed and set up against Mt Kenya region voters.
"I mean well, I will not relent and I will not be intimidated from calling out a person, whose scheme is to pursue personal interests, in the deceptive name of helping our people," Mr Ichung'wa said.
Kirinyaga Governor Ms Anne Waiguru, who accompanied Mr Ichung'wa on the Murang'a tour, said those who support the president will not side with those who have abandoned their duty to play politics.
“Our government is not heading in the right direction owing to this man, who was given work to do, but instead of serving, is busy politicking,” Ms Waiguru said on Saturday.
"We are going around this whole region to preach about President Ruto's government’s good intentions for us. We are going to demand that we be spared the Gachagua rhetoric in this region and instead, he should work," said Nyandarua woman rep Faith Gitau.
“We have to guard our government from internal sabotage by people who are trying to use our people for their self-interests,” Ms Gitau told Nation.Africa on Saturday.
Mathioya MP Edwin Mugo on Saturday told Nation.Africa that those fighting the president are only making up "excuses for sleeping on the job and must cease procrastination.”
The supremacy battles between factions allied to the president and his deputy in the region have spawned lobby groups.
One such group calling itself "Gachagua 5Million plus support lobby group", chaired by Mr Stephen Maina, has asked the president to reign in on leaders attacking the DP.
Another going by the name "Mt Kenya 2027 recourse strategy" brings together former President Uhuru Kenyatta loyalists and has in its ranks Mr Nduati Ngugi who has cautioned "the activities of President Ruto’s allies in the mountain will force us to also come out to deal.”
Mr Ngugi told Nation.Africa that "on September 6 we had a brainstorming meeting in a hotel in Sagana, Kirinyaga, and resolved to play a part in countering that wave.”
This raging fight in the mountain, argues Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology don, Charles Mwangi, is emanating from Gachagua's unpredictable call for Mt Kenya unity, and his insistence on forming a broad-based coalition ahead of 2027.
"Mr Gachagua's woes are emanating from his ongoing project of uniting Mt Kenya and reaching out to other regions and their leaders to form political partnerships ahead of 2027," Mr Mwangi says.
He argues that President Ruto’s allies in Mt Kenya appear to be campaigning to replace Mr Gachagua as running mate in 2027 and give Dr Ruto a plan to sidestep Gachagua's growing influence in the region.
"To achieve that agenda, they must slay Gachagua's political life in the region by setting him against the area people through issues that draw emotions. Things like agricultural earnings, illicit brews, and harsh business environment," Mr Mwangi reckons.
