President William Ruto in Othaya town on the final day of his Mt Kenya development tour on April 5, 2025.
President William Ruto’s loyalists in the Mt Kenya region have crafted an elaborate plan targeting at least two million votes for his 2027 re-election bid.
The plan involves splitting the Mountain into several voting blocs to counter the influence of the United Opposition in the region.
In 2022, President Ruto garnered 87 percent of the Mt Kenya vote, accounting for nearly half of his overall national tally. However, relations between the region and the President have since grown strained, resulting in political hostilities within the region.
His loyalists now struggle to operate freely and the United Democratic Alliance (UDA), which swept more than 95 percent of seats in the region, has split.
United opposition
The biggest source of conflict was the October 2024 impeachment of Mr Rigathi Gachagua, who had served as Deputy President for two years.
Mr Gachagua has since formed the Democracy for Citizens Party (DCP), branding it a special-purpose vehicle for 2027 with the declared agenda of blocking President Ruto's reelection in the 2027 General elections.
He is now viewed as one of the major threats to President Ruto’s reelection—both in Mt Kenya and nationally.
Mr Gachagua has aligned himself with Wiper party leader Kalonzo Musyoka, DAP-Kenya leader Eugene Wamalwa, Trans Nzoia Governor George Natembeya, and Jubilee Party deputy leader Dr Fred Matiang'i to establish the ‘Wantam’ movement.
Opposition leaders Eugene Wamalwa, Rigathi Gachagua, Martha Karua, Kalonzo Musyoka, Fred Matiang'i, Mukhisa Kituyi, Justin Muturi and Mithika Linturi in Nairobi on April 29, 2025.
The movement seeks to consolidate regional blocs against President Ruto’s reelection bid, with Mr Gachagua emerging as its political workhorse.
Mr Gachagua has been telling Mt Kenya voters that “President Ruto is planning to divide and rule us through the use of many political parties loyal to him, sponsoring county-level community spokesmen to hype his reelection bid, and using tokenism in the form of money and foodstuffs as bait.”
Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua.
Ruto strategy
In response, President Ruto’s loyalists say they are determined to cut Mr Gachagua “to size” in the Mountain where he draws his political muscle and enjoys considerable goodwill.
“The person we are mostly targeting for popularity erosion is Mr Gachagua, who practices gatekeeping and isolationist politics... the man who behaves as if he owns Mt Kenya and that voters are in his pocket,” said UDA Secretary-General Omar Hassan.
Public Service CS Geoffrey Ruku said the region “would be better split if its unity threatens our region with isolation and being sent into opposition.”
Mr Ruku said their focus is on securing President Ruto’s reelection, drawing lessons from the November 27, 2025, Mbeere North by-election, where UDA’s Leonard wa Muthende won with 47 percent of the vote.
Leonard Muthende of UDA declared MP-elect after garnering 15,802 votes.
Speaking on Inooro TV’s Kimuri talk show on December 4, 2025, Mr Ruku said the Mbeere North win proved that “we have been living under the illusion of a non-existent Gachagua hype, which we conquered, giving Ruto supporters hope ahead of 2027.”
Bigger picture
In a region with slightly over four million registered voters, Mr Ruku believes it is possible to replicate similar margins in other parts of Mt Kenya and secure at least two million votes for the President.
“We have the Mt Kenya East bloc—Meru, Tharaka Nithi, Embu and parts of Kirinyaga. This is our launching pad, and we will deal with the fake Gachagua wave to post positive results for the President,” he said.
Senate Majority Leader Aaron Cheruiyot said on Sunday that Mt Kenya remains a “close ally” of the President’s reelection campaign.
He said they refuse to be cowed by Mr Gachagua’s “monotonous claims” that he owns the region and that voters have severed ties with President Ruto.
“From where I sit, I see a Mt Kenya that is liberal and a ground of equal opportunity... a region where, in 2022, the opposition led by Mr Raila Odinga garnered over one million votes. Mt Kenya has shown it desires to be in government, and it remains one of our key vote-harvesting grounds,” said Mr Cheruiyot.
Senate Majority Leader Aaron Cheruiyot.
Laikipia East MP Mwangi Kiunjuri, who is coordinating efforts to mobilise friendly parties behind the President, said the plan is complete and already 10 percent implemented.
“You will start seeing government-friendly parties hold National Delegates Conferences (NDCs) and resolve to support Dr Ruto. My party, The Service Party, held its NDC last Friday. At least six others will follow,” he said.
Laikipia East MP Mwangi Kiunjuri during the interview with the Nation at his office in Nairobi.
Mr Kiunjuri said these parties will mobilise turnout favourable to the President, securing at least 1.2 million votes.
He added that a second strategy involves using a list of about 300 senior regional leaders who strongly support President Ruto.
“If each mobilises 4,000 diehards, that adds another 1.2 million votes. That’s why our two-million-vote target for Dr Ruto remains viable,” he said.
Kindiki factor
Deputy President Prof Kithure Kindiki, speaking during the Mbeere North campaigns, promised to lead an aggressive youth-focused campaign in the region.
“How can a president who is giving our youths Sh50,000 each, creating opportunities abroad, sponsoring them for technical courses, and giving them full toolkits and startup capital fail to garner majority votes here?” he asked.
Deputy President Kithure Kindiki flanked by Mbeere North UDA candidate Leonard Wamuthende during a campaign rally in Mbeere North Constituency.
Prof Kindiki said they will sell “development and hope” to counter what he termed Mr Gachagua’s “rhetoric and disillusionment.”
He has been tasked with keeping Mt Kenya aligned in the President’s political orbit, especially regarding the 2027 running-mate decision.
Embu Senator Alexander Mundigi told the Nation that Prof Kindiki must be retained as Deputy President and running mate for Mt Kenya’s interests within President Ruto’s reelection strategy.
“Had we lost the Mbeere North by-election, it would have confirmed propaganda that the President is not loved in this region,” he said. “Now that we have proved he remains our first choice, he should guarantee Prof Kindiki the Deputy Presidency as we work to retake lost ground for 2027.”
Lands CS Alice Wahome, speaking in Kandara constituency over the weekend, said President Ruto will win the 2027 election because he has “a dedicated team that understands the ground and is focused.”
“Take my case. I’m not a CS because beauty was used to rate me. It’s because I mobilised for this government’s win. I will repeat the same. Many of us in President Ruto’s Cabinet will repeat what we did in 2022,”she said.
However, Kikuyu Council of Elders chairman Wachira Kiago cautioned that what is happening is “a power contest using people as pawns.”
He urged the region to be wary of schemes to divide Mt Kenya into blocs.
“We are united by far more serious things beyond politics. The blood, tears, and sweat of the freedom fight are the glue that binds the region,” he said.
He added that Mt Kenya is also united by its desire for stability and prosperity, which is why it often votes as a bloc for whichever side promises unity and economic progress.
Mr Kiago said attempts to divide the region for short-term political gain will falter, arguing that the government should instead “make governance felt in genuinely transformative ways.”
He said Mt Kenya’s criteria for judging the government remain simple: evidence of fighting poverty, illiteracy, disease, and respect for human rights.
Without such evidence, he warned, Mt Kenya voters will have no option but to join other Kenyans in pursuing an alternative governing order “as a patriotic duty of liberation.”
