Political intrigue surrounds Saturday’s ‘coronation’ of Deputy President Kithure Kindiki as the political spokesman of the Mt Kenya region.
Some of President William Ruto’s allies have accused former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua of having a hand in an event that was meant to consolidate support for his successor.
The ceremony at the 16,000-capacity Kirigiti Stadium in Kiambu brought together elders from the Agikuyu, Embu and Meru communities, who dressed Prof Kindiki in traditional regalia and endorsed him as the region’s spokesman.
The elders representing groups including Kiama Kia Ma, the Kikuyu Council of Elders, Njuri Ncheke, Kiama Kia Muembu, Ngome and Nyangi Ndiriri, said their declaration was intended to preserve the unity of the region and rejected calls to split Mt Kenya into separate political blocs.
Deputy President Kithure Kindiki with elders at the solemn Mt Kenya elders assembly at Kirigiti Stadium, Kiambu County, where he was endorsed as the Mt Kenya spokesperson.
Photo credit: DPCS
But the ceremony immediately exposed the fault lines over who has the authority to speak for Mt Kenya region and whether the political establishment around President Ruto has secured the region’s support ahead of the 2027 General Election.
Some Agikuyu elders disowned the event while politicians opposed to the Ruto administration questioned the legitimacy of the process. The disagreements have turned what was presented as a cultural gathering into another contest over the region’s political leadership.
The event also added to a growing list of attempts to install political spokesmen for the region. Area elders have previously bestowed similar honours on Jomo Kenyatta in 1947, Njenga Karume in 1978, Uhuru Kenyatta in 2012, Raila Odinga in 2020 and Justin Muturi in 2021. Prof Kindiki has now received the honour twice in 2026, including his earlier elevation by the Njuri Ncheke in Meru.
Kiama Kia Ma patron Kung’u Muigai dismissed the Kirigiti declaration as null and void while Kikuyu Council of Elders chairman Wachira Kiago said his wing kept away from the ceremony.
Juja MP George Koimburi described the gathering as a political circus lacking the necessary traditional legitimacy, while Ndia MP George Kariuki also questioned its quality, substance and legitimacy.
Mr Muigai said the Kikuyu Council of Elders had not sanctioned the ceremony or authorised the use of its regalia.
“It reaches a point where you have to step aside and be witness of what is unfolding. I think that was Kiama Kia Ma event and we as KCE were not involved,” he said.
He urged communities to remain united and focus on development and their collective political interests ahead of the 2027 election.
Mr Muigai, who is chairman of the Kenya Cultural Centre Council, said the elders involved in the ceremony included some who had previously visited
Mr Gachagua at his Wamunyoro home and declared their recognition of him as the political leader of Mt Kenya.
He further claimed that some of those involved had previously faced investigations by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations over alleged forgery of Kiama Kia Ma membership documents, claims that were not independently established in the material presented for this story.
Mr Muigai said the emergence of the same elders in the Kindiki ceremony raised questions about the political interests behind the gathering.
“We as government loyalists read a sinister motive where most likely the elders are laying ground for President Ruto’s grand betrayal in the mountain where he will be deserted at his hour of need in 2027,” he said.
Mr Muigai said he had been invited to the event by Prof Kindiki but declined to attend, instead holding a meeting with his council at his Ichaweri home a day earlier.
He said legitimate cultural recognition would require wider consultation and participation by the region’s established elders.
Elders from Mt Kenya region install Deputy President Kithure Kindiki as the spokesperson of the region at Kirigiti Stadium in Kiambu County.
Photo credit: DPCS
“There must be inclusivity, the reigning kingpin must be there to relinquish power to the incoming spokesperson and all elders must be involved,” he said.
Public Service Cabinet Secretary Geoffrey Ruku, one of the leading voices behind the push for a political realignment of the region, defended the Kirigiti gathering.
He described it as a solemn declaration by Mt Kenya elders recognising Prof Kindiki as the bearer of the region’s political aspirations and reaffirming support for President Ruto .
Mr Ruku said the gathering was inclusive and brought together representatives of the various traditional organisations.
The declaration issued at Kirigiti was signed by representatives of six elders’ organisations and endorsed Prof Kindiki as the spokesman and representative of the region’s interests and aspirations.
The ceremony also appeared to close a chapter in Mr Ruku’s campaign to divide Mt Kenya into East and West.
For weeks, the CS had argued that the political interests of the two sides could be pursued separately, using an axe and power saw as symbols of the proposed split.
At Kirigiti, the axe was returned to the elders, with Prof Kindiki calling for unity among the Agikuyu, Embu and Meru communities.
Mr Ruku said the gathering should therefore be viewed as the sealing of renewed political ties among the communities.
Mr Gachagua, now leader of the Democracy for Citizens Party, distanced himself from the ceremony and dismissed the claim that he had any connection to the elders who organised it.
He claimed that some of those who attended had been paid Sh3,000 each and described the gathering as an attempt to create political cover for what he called agents of division.
“These are political shenanigans aimed at providing a soft landing for the two agents of divisions Prof Kindiki and Mr Ruku on behalf of their master who is President Ruto. But collectively, they must know 2027 ballot will be reckoning time,” he said on Saturday while in Kansas, United States, where he is on a political tour.
Mr Gachagua also welcomed the rejection of calls to split Mt Kenya, saying he celebrated what he described as the defeat of efforts to divide the region.
Elders from Mt Kenya region install Deputy President Kithure Kindiki as the spokesperson of the region at Kirigiti Stadium in Kiambu County.
Photo credit: DPCS
Behind the dispute over traditional legitimacy is a more consequential political question: who can consolidate Mt Kenya’s vote ahead of the 2027 election?
Prof Kindiki has emerged as the central figure in the Ruto administration’s efforts to rebuild its political relationship with the region after Mr Gachagua’s removal from the Deputy Presidency in October 2024. Kindiki became Deputy President on November 1, 2024.
The Deputy President has increasingly presented himself as the bridge between the administration and Mt Kenya communities, while maintaining that he will remain President Ruto’s running mate in 2027.
But his political position in the region is being contested by a group of leaders and former allies who have emerged as alternative centres of influence.
They include Mr Gachagua, former President Uhuru Kenyatta, former Deputy President Justin Muturi, People's Liberation Party leader Martha Karua, former Meru governor Peter Munya, former Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mithika Linturi, Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro, former Laikipia governor Ndiritu Muriithi and other regional political figures.
The contest is no longer simply about who occupies a formal government position but increasingly about who can claim the authority to negotiate for the region, define its political interests and mobilise its voters as the 2027 contest takes shape.
