Deputy President Kithure Kindiki (right) and DCP leader Rigathi Gachagua.
Within 58 days – between March 1 2026 and April 27 2026 – Deputy President Kithure Kindiki has held 15 planned activities within the Mt Kenya East orbit, activities that define how determined he is in building himself a political base.
In the same period, he has not held any activity in the Mt Kenya West bloc – only appearing as a guest – to also define the cut-throat competition he has in the region with his predecessor, Rigathi Gachagua.
According to Public Service Cabinet Secretary Mr Geoffrey Ruku, the Mt Kenya East must chart its political independence route towards 2027 General Election.
“For long we have been playing second fiddle to the Mt Kenya West. We hunt together but Mt Kenya West eats the prize alone. It has reached a point where we must hunt on our own through Kindiki. It is not a must that Mt Kenya remain united. As long as Gachagua is in the picture, we will split the Mountain for we in the East will never submit to him,” he recently told a vernacular TV station.
Public Service and Special Programmes Cabinet Secretary Geoffrey Ruku addresses journalists at NYS Engineering Institute on March 8, 2026.
Mr Ruku said the plan is to create a ‘mini-mountain’ of about 1.5 million voters that will bring together residents of Meru, Tharaka Nithi, Embu counties and parts of Kirinyaga County, with Prof Kindiki as the regional kingpin.
Although Prof Kindiki has publicly advocated for a united ‘Mountain’, his ground incursions mirror Mr Ruku’s sentiments even when Manyatta MP, Gitonga Mukunji warns that “80 percent of us in this East will never follow Mr Ruku in his scheme”.
On April 26, Prof Kindiki hosted President William Ruto where they addressed a political rally in Chuka town after they both attended Sunday service at Presbyterian Teachers College Rubate. President Ruto drummed up support for Prof Kindiki, saying, “my deputy is smart, focused and generally a nice man to work with”.
Prof Kindiki had on April 21 addressed rallies in Meru County, on April 18 met 2,500 grassroots leaders from Chuka Igamba-Ng’ombe at his Irunduni village home, on April 15 addressed rallies in Kirinyaga County and on April 6 hosted a delegation from Maara Constituency at his Irunduni home.
Deputy President Kithure Kindiki addresses a public rally at Mwatate Town in Taita Taveta County.
He had earlier on April 5 held a meeting with his village neighbours, on April 2 held rallies in Kirinyaga County, on April 1 was in Tharaka Nithi County and on March 31 in Embu County.
On March 23, he released a press release lecturing Mr Gachagua about banditry in Meru North. On March 21, he was in Meru County; on March 20, he issued a press release about insecurity in Meru North, on March 17, he was in Meru County, and on March 16, he was in Embu County.
On March 8, he was in Meru County and also on March 5 and 2---the pattern clearly defining a focus on Meru as his headquarters, Embu as his second home of choice and Kirinyaga as a buffer zone.
Prof Kindiki and Mr Gachagua know one thing: winning the Mt Kenya voting bloc is a do-or-die factor in their political careers, and any slip-up would be costly.
While Prof Kindiki tries to assemble numbers that will endear him to President Ruto and win the running mate slot in the 2027 presidential election, Mr Gachagua hopes to use his support in the region to challenge President Ruto and Prof Kindiki’s re-election.
In a two-day (April 24 and 25) tour of Murang’a County, President had unkind words for Mr Gachagua. The former DP hit back while in Lower Eastern zone and in Mombasa County, saying he had “locked the Mountain through my Democracy for Citizens party (DCP) and their only hope is in dividing the Mountain—which is a dead dream, it won’t happen”.
Mr Gachagua said, “This splitting narratives are being sponsored by State machineries since we have heard Kiambu, Nakuru and Laikipia counties also emit voices of detachment from the Mountain”.
According to political analyst Mr Malila Munywoki, Prof Kindiki was better off attempting to win a united Mountain bloc as opposed to the emerging pattern of targeting Mt Kenya East.
“The folly of his math is that the 1.5 million voters in Mt Kenya East will split. While he can win an edge in Tharaka Nithi, it will be hard for him in Embu, Meru and Kirinyaga. It is not guaranteed that he can take half of the bloc. Minus turnout deficit, Prof Kindiki is doing calculations that might leave him winning less than 500,000 votes—something that will not appeal for Dr Ruto’s running mate consideration,” he said.
Democracy for the Citizens Party leader Rigathi Gachagua.
Mr Munywoki advised Prof Kindiki to be bold, step out and confront Mr Gachagua’s dominance in the region in order to make an impact.
“We want to see Kindiki walking along Mathira village paths singing Tutam song, address rallies in hotspots like Githurai, Ruiru, Ndumberi, Kenol, Makutano town along Kenol-Marua road, Karatina and rallies in Nakuru County especially in Naivasha….Mark timing in Meru and occasionally crossing into neighboring Embu County won’t create for him the standing he desires to survive 2027,” he said.
He also advised Prof Kindiki against issuing statements that appear to portray him as a worn-out soldier.
“I heard him say he is forgiving Gachagua for all persecutions meted against him…I have heard him say he is surrendering 2027 to the providence of mercies as well saying he has no issue of Kirinyaga governor Anne Waiguru became Dr Ruto’s running mate in 2027… Kindiki has in the past nearly two years promised fire and brimstone to Gachagua but it has not arrived. The time to assert yourself as Mountain Lion is now—you succeed you fail it is worth it,” he said.
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