Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro.
As soon as the Kenya Kwanza Alliance administration came to power in 2022, Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro hit the ground running with thinly veiled political ambitions.
But his supporters were disappointed when he was not named in President William Ruto's first cabinet after speculation had him among the favourites for a powerful docket. This, some thought, would be fair compensation for a young politician who, along with Prof Kithure Kindiki, had made the shortlist to be Dr Ruto's running mate – a contest eventually won by Mr Rigathi Gachagua. At the time, no one could have imagined the dramatic turn of events at 'Hustler's Mansion'.
Nevertheless, Mr Nyoro was eventually chosen to chair the powerful Budget and Appropriations Committee of the National Assembly. The president would be seen in the company of Mr Nyoro at most of his public meetings and, in his speeches, Dr Ruto would introduce him as a "young man with a bright political future".
In the two years that President Ruto has been in office, Mr Nyoro has until recently been the face of the forces against Mr Gachagua in Mt Kenya.
In many public statements, Mr Nyoro's then loyalists, led by Murang'a Senator Joe Nyutu, called for Mr Gachagua to be sacked and replaced by the 38-year-old Kiharu MP.
"We want to warn President Ruto that he is a good man — a good president who deserves a second term. But should he come seeking that second term with Mr Gachagua as his running mate in 2027, he will have a problem winning that election," Mr Nyutu, who has since switched sides to support Mr Gachagua, once said.
It was clear that the Nyoro brigade was on a mission to stop Mr Gachagua's aggressive move to consolidate the Mt Kenya bloc and become its kingpin. Gachagua's allies accused State House of being behind efforts to undermine the then deputy president.
Then came the Gen Z nationwide protests that lasted for weeks in June, fuelled by the punitive Finance Bill 2024 with calls for the president's resignation.
Mr Nyoro's committee had played a crucial role in the controversial tax plan, along with the Finance Committee chaired by Molo MP Kimani Kuria.
By the time the president dropped Finance Bill 2024, dissolved his cabinet and launched a crackdown on those he branded "treasonous criminals who participated in the protests", Mr Nyoro had fallen silent.
Then came the onslaught against Mr Gachagua when Kibwezi West MP Mwengi Mutuse, backed by 291 MPs, tabled an impeachment motion against the deputy president.
Mr Nyoro's signature was not among the supporting MPs and he was not even in the House when 282 MPs eventually voted to impeach Mr Gachagua. The Senate followed shortly after to vote for the deputy president's removal. Mr Gachagua has challenged his impeachment and replacement by Prof Kithure Kindiki.
Throughout the storm, however, Mr Nyoro has remained largely silent and absent, despite initially indicating, in an apparent Damascus moment, that he would support the embattled Mr Gachagua.
In recent days, the youthful Kiharu MP has been the subject of social media chatter about his whereabouts, fate and position. One key question remained: did this mean he had fallen out with the President, and what direction would Mr Nyoro take?
Charles Mwangi, a lecturer at the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT), says the Kiharu MP's dilemma, highlighted because of his stature, mirrors what many legislators in the Mountain region are going through.
"The problem with the current political storm in Mt Kenya is that residents are demanding that their leaders take a clear position to identify with the two wings of combat--that of President Ruto and that of Mr Gachagua," he said.
Mr Mwangi, who between 2017 and 2022 was the Mt Kenya MCAs caucus chairman as Ichagaki ward representative, said, "the Mountain is in a foul mood and has started profiling those it considers as helping the president persecute Mr Gachagua".
"This scenario presents Mr Nyoro with a political dilemma of no mean proportions, given that politics is local and for him to grow he must be accepted at home".
Earlier, Mr Gachagua's allies were suspicious of Mr Nyoro's intentions in the impeachment bid, while some of the Kiharu MP's supporters who signed the impeachment motion claimed they were doing so at his behest. Mathioya MP Edwin Mugo in a press statement on October 5 sought to link Mr Nyoro to the Gachagua impeachment plot.
Mr Mugo said he and Murang'a Woman Representative Betty Maina were "are the foot soldiers of Mr Nyoro in terms of setting a leverage and a model of issue-based politics in Murang'a County and Kenya at large".
Mr Nyoro neither confirmed nor denied this, but publicly available information did not show that he supported the removal.
When Mr Gachagua's impeachment was finally confirmed by the Senate and it was time for President Ruto to choose a replacement, some again floated Mr Nyoro's name as a possible candidate. Instead, it was Murang'a Governor Irungu Kangata who appeared to be pushing hard to become the country's second in command.
When the president settled on Prof Kindiki, Ms Maina posted on social media that "we asked (Ndindi) Nyoro if he was still interested in a higher seat, but he said he couldn't disrespect the deputy president (Mr Gachagua)".
"We had no other option but to abandon him. We begged Senator Nyutu to join us, but he refused and said he will defend where Mr Nyoro is defending," she said, adding, "As for us, we chose where we are likely to be easily re-elected, and that's why we chose Kindiki".
Mr Nyoro did not immediately respond to Nation.Africa's inquiries.
When we sought Senator Nyutu's comment on his initial frontline fight for Mr Nyoro before he switched allegiance to Mr Gachagua, he said "That is a simple task to fill you in".
"I have never left Mr Nyoro's camp as his political admirer and supporter...I submit to you that Mr Nyoro remains a man of great promise and is a prime presidential material," he said.
"Mr Nyoro has inherent wisdom that makes him refuse any invitation to fight his brother or sister for no good cause".
Mr Nyutu said that he came to Mr Gachagua's defence "after it became clearer that Mr Gachagua was being fought for being the only remaining strong voice to stand up and speak truth to power on behalf of Mt Kenya”.
Asked if Mr Nyoro sanctioned him to rush home to help Mr Gachagua, Mr Nyutu responded: "Mr Nyoro will, at the opportune time, speak for himself".
As Mr Nyoro's silence continues to attract attention with claims that he is a political watermelon with no clear stand, some believe he should make his stand known to avoid ambiguity.
"Mr Nyoro has the personal right to silence but if his electorate and fans demand that he be heard representing them loudly in the political happenings in the mountain and in the country, then he has little wriggle room space," said former Gatanga MP Nduati Ngugi.
Mr Ngugi said Mr Nyoro has three options to choose from "in a political storm that many feel was part and parcel of igniting when he was publicly recommended to replace Mr Gachagua and he never appeared to repudiate those calls".
Mr Ngugi said the options were either for Mr Nyoro to continue his silence or for him to hope that everything would fall into place on its own.
The second option, according to Mr Ngugi, is for Mr Nyoro to "come out and declare a stand in favour of President Ruto and damn the consequences" in a region where the head of state is losing popularity.
The third option, he says, "is for Mr Nyoro to take advantage of the confusion raging in the Mountain and present himself to fill the void of the region's kingpin to take on President Ruto in 2027".
But Mr Ngugi warns: "All the three options are a minefield that require utmost keenness and tack in walking through hence presenting an image of a Mr Nyoro whose political career is at crossroads".
