Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua (left) confers with Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki in Nyeri town on April 14, 2023.
The supremacy battle between two Mt Kenya factions – the dominant West and the reserved East – that rocked the selection of Dr William Ruto’s running mate ahead of the 2022 presidential vote could be settled in his re-election campaigns.
A line that often divides communities on either side of Mt Kenya whenever political stakes are high – the West versus East – has been redrawn as the power struggle between President Ruto and Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua escalates.
In the lead-up to the 2022 presidential election, Mr Gachagua, who is from the West, upstaged the favourite for running mate, Prof Kithure Kindiki from the East, after confrontational protracted talks that nearly degenerated to scuffles as the factions dug in.
Rigathi Gachagua (left) with Kithure Kindiki in Kanjuiri, Nyandarua County, on April 03, 2022.
Two years into office, Mr Gachagua is seen to be at war with his boss, the same way then-deputy president Ruto fell out with President Uhuru Kenyatta almost immediately after their re-election in 2017.
This time, the Deputy President is working to maintain a stranglehold on Mt Kenya, a region that played a key role in the election of Dr Ruto.
With the scramble for Mt Kenya at the heart of the raging power struggle, President Ruto has tasked his allies from the region to slow Mr Gachagua’s perceived growing influence.
The recent decision by leaders from Mt Kenya East to endorse Prof Kindiki as the spokesman of the region is seen as a divide-and-rule scheme to further whittle down Mr Gachagua’s bargaining power in the Mountain.
Fourteen 14 MPs from Tharaka Nithi, Meru and Embu counties that constitute the Mt Kenya East bloc on Monday said the region no longer wants to be tied to Mt Kenya West – made up of Murang’a, Nyeri, Kiambu, Nyandarua, Laikipia and Kirinyaga.
Some have even included Nairobi and Nakuru in the grouping. Months ago, Mr Gachagua had the headache of healing a rift with his friend-turned-foe – Mr Kenyatta.
They fell out during Mr Kenyatta’s second term but the situation soured even more Mr Gachagua endorsed Dr Ruto for the 2022 presidency against the outgoing president’s preferred successor Raila Odinga.
Mr Gachagua has apologised to Mr Kenyatta, seeking to reunite with him and bolster his ranks in the fight with President Ruto’s wing in Mt Kenya but has not been successful.
With the President sealing a political deal with Mr Odinga, sidestepping traps the Deputy President had vowed to set and ensure the ODM leader never warmed his way into State House, Mr Gachagua’s troubles have grown exponentially.
He is already fighting National Assembly Leader of Majority Kimani Ichung’wah, Laikipia East MP Mwangi Kiunjuri and a host of lawmakers from the region.
The breaking away of the Mt Kenya eastern bloc does not make matters easy for the former Mathira MP.His allies have come out with guns blazing in his defence following the announcement by Meru, Tharaka Nithi and Embu county leaders.
Mr Kahiga said he suspects the new declaration to be part of the broader scheme to split the region so that it does not reach the 2027 elections as a united front.
“All these MPs saying they want to split Mt Kenya are the very ones who voted yes for Finance Bill 2024 against the wish of the masses,” the governor said, adding that “you need no further evidence that this is a declaration from people who don’t listen to the ground”.
Maragua MP Mary wa Maua on Monday, September 9, told Nation that “it is unfortunate that one of the key pillars of national security in the name of Mr Kindiki is being drawn into politics of divisions that threaten even national cohesion”.
“By saying they want to follow Kindiki and split the political power and relevance of Mt Kenya is certainly not what the people in any part of this region and I would urge them to heed,” the MP said.“It is against what Gachagua insists about the need to listen to the ground.”
Kikuyu Council of Elders chairman Mr Wachira Kiago on Monday dismissed the decreed breakaway of the east as “effects of unwise political leadership wrangles aimed at progressing divide and rule tactics.”
Mr Kiago said, “The agenda behind the breakaway camp is not hard to identify, it is grouping the region for easy control.”
“Just like the way you need a referendum to alter national boundaries, you need more consultations to come up with a decision to alter Mt Kenya as is known in the political space,” he argued.
Mr Kiago said the ongoing political competition in Mt Kenya region is turning out to be bad for area people who instead of being served as per the pre-election promises, are being whirled and swirled around in “a nonsensical power play”.
In a press conference on Monday, the Mt Kenya East leaders through Mbeere MP Geoffrey Ruku said they were now banking on Mr Kindiki to be their linkman to President William Ruto’s government.
“As the legislators of Mt Kenya East, and on behalf of our people, we have unanimously agreed that the link between us and the executive is Prof Kindiki,” they said
