The ouster of Mr Rigathi Gachagua as Deputy President is set to trigger a supremacy battle in Mount Kenya as leaders jostle to position themselves in the region ahead of the 2027 elections
As Mt Kenya continues to grope in political darkness, one fear has become constant: the emergence of a near-cultic following of former Deputy President Mr Rigathi Gachagua.
After he was impeached in October 2024, Mr Gachagua has re-invented himself, mobilising the populous Mt Kenya vote, and signalling his big desire — to have a following as solid as that of ODM leader Raila Odinga in Nyanza and some parts of Western Kenya.
"Look at a man like Raila Odinga. He never wins the presidency but ends up in subsequent governments because he manages his numbers. He ensures those elected under his patronage are loyal to him," Mr Gachagua said in Laikipia County on January 19, 2025.
Mr Gachagua said he seeks to emulate Mr Odinga in 2027 and he must end up commanding loyal numbers, especially in the National Assembly and the Senate.
"You must help me by kicking out all the traitors we elected in 2022, who for the right price, can sell their mothers. Those who have not hesitated to hawk their brains to the State House," he said.
"Like Odinga, I will only let in loyal flag bearers into the Mountain party that I will announce soon. This party will not have room for traitors. It will be available to those who will sign an agreement with our people that they will never betray us and our interests."
Even though Mr Odinga built his image representing the urban constituency of Kibera in Nairobi, he has over the years gained fanatical support in his Nyanza base where he is considered the community’s defender and often offers political direction.
This is the kind of profile Mr Gachagua is building as he consolidates support in the Mountain. However, unlike the former Deputy President’s current ethnic label as a Mt Kenya leader, Mr Odinga has managed to secure support beyond his base by having allies in key regions, giving him significant national support and recognition. Recent diversity in the delegations visiting his Wamunyoro home in Nyeri County show a deliberate effort to drop the ethnic card even as he rallies the Mountain around him.
For Mr Gachagua, he desires to remain the leader of Mt Kenya, which he says means offering political direction and ensuring their interests are met, which is an advantage in the quest to form a coalition with the 2027 elections in mind.
He has since started courting Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka and his Ukambani region, but Mr Gachagua has been clear that even in getting new friends, the “logbook will remain with us in Mt Kenya because of our numbers.”
His former boss, President William Ruto, used the week-long Western tour to castigate Mr Gachagua, arguing that he was clueless while he was the country’s second-in-command and that he had no right to lecture him on who to court and how to run a country.
Aligned
Some of Mr Gachagua loyalists fully agree with him on the need to punish those who do not listen to the ground.
"The kind of politics being played in this country where the government is a one-man show, state capture is the agenda and those who surround the president are imposing regional leaders on communities needs us to have someone to guard us. We have seen the state seeking to control Mt Kenya through leaders it chooses for us, not those we have endorsed," said Naivasha MP Ms Jayne Kihara.
She went on: "We are living in an era where the state wants to control all aspects of life among communities...sometimes using murder and abductions to whip people into its grip".
She said Mr Gachagua remains the only 'mountaineer' who has stood his ground in defence of the Mountain interests, in the process getting martyred for refusing his community to be divided and ruled.
'Political bad manners'
Kirinyaga governor Ms Anne Waiguru on Thursday lamented that Mr Gachagua was shepherding the community to the opposition.
"He is teaching us political bad manners of throwing out the baby with the bathwater on grounds that he feels wronged. We are being managed into political emotions of living with anger. We are being shown a direction to doom. He cannot be allowed and I will rise up and also offer direction to my Kirinyaga people," Ms Waiguru said.
Kirinyaga County Governor Anne Waiguru during an interview at her home in Kitusuru on December 20, 2024.
But her Nyeri counterpart Mutahi Kahiga, a key ally of Mr Gachagua, warns that all those trying to curtail the former deputy president were in for a rude shock.
"Mr Gachagua has won our hearts and he is our Raila. He only needs to tell us to head south and we will unquestioningly do so. We must be respected for what we are and this country also belongs to us just as it belongs to everyone else,” said Mr Kahiga.
"You are wasting your time trying to think of a 2027 moment in Mt Kenya that will be without Gachagua influence".
This fear of a one-man show in Mr Gachagua has seen those who are opposed to competing under his wing say they will form their own political parties and pursue electoral opportunities outside the awaited announcement.
"We agree with Gachagua that President Ruto is bad for us and should not be re-elected in 2027. He must be replaced by a leader like Dr Fred Matiang'i or George Natembeya. In fact, in that, I am with Mr Gachagua 100 per cent…but we must embrace several parties to fight for opportunities," said former Thika Town MP Patrick Wainaina as he indicated he would form his own party.
Others who have expressed fears are those who operate under the Jubilee Party.
"It appears that Mr Gachagua is making huge ground inroads but what is not being guaranteed is fairness in contest opportunities should we also support him," said former Gatanga MP Nduati Ngugi.
Mr Ngugi added: "To cushion ourselves further we have formed the National Democratic Congress party to help us run for office should it turn out that our fears will be proved right".
Division
The sentiments from the ground are a pointer to what awaits the mountain should the Gachagua mojo continue holding sway.
"It is not about where we will vote in 2027, it is about where Mr Gachagua will command us to. It is not about who we will vote for the presidency but who Gachagua will command us to apart from the incumbent. The only person Mr Gachagua cannot tell us to vote for is Ruto," said Nyandarua Senator John Methu.
It was President Ruto and his allies who were among the first to note the emergence of a Mt Kenya strongman in Mr Gachagua since one of the grounds to send him home was that he was mobilising his ethnic group.
Mathira MP Eric wa Mumbi spilled the beans when he alleged that Mr Gachagua while the Deputy President had already started a regional campaign aimed at withdrawing Mt Kenya from the ruling United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party and also work against re-election of President Ruto.
"Mr Gachagua if at all he is a truthful man as he claims can positively affirm that I personally advised him to submit himself to President Ruto presidency until 2032 and then roll out his ambitions," Mr Wamumbi said.
