At least 50,000 elders from Mt Kenya East and West are expected to converge in Kiambu Town on Saturday September 19 in what organisers are billing as a major attempt to rebuild unity in a region whose political loyalties have come under intense strain ahead of the 2027 General Election.
The gathering follows a series of consultations by elders from Embu, Meru and Tharaka Nithi, who have been reaching out to their counterparts in Kiambu, Murang’a, Nyeri, Kirinyaga, Nyandarua, Laikipia, Nakuru and parts of Nairobi in search of a common political, social and economic agenda for the wider Mt Kenya region.
At the centre of the meeting is Deputy President Kithure Kindiki , who has been increasingly presented by elders from the eastern side of the mountain as the region’s new national political figure following his appointment to the country’s second-highest office.
But the meeting is also taking place against the backdrop of an increasingly bitter contest over the political direction of Mt Kenya, with former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua insisting that neither President William Ruto nor Prof Kindiki can regain the support of the region because of what he describes as their betrayal of the mountain.
The competing claims have turned the question of who speaks for Mt Kenya — and who commands its votes — into one of the emerging fault lines of the 2027 succession battle.
“It will provide an early indication of whether elders from the two sides of the mountain can find common ground at a time when politicians have increasingly used the East-West divide to mobilise support,” political analyst Steve Ngari argues.
The initiative has its roots in an August 15 meeting at Nembure Grounds in Embu County, where councils of elders from Mt Kenya East adopted a resolution calling for structured engagement with their counterparts in the West.
The elders argued that the region had historically acted as one political bloc and that the East had repeatedly supported presidential and vice-presidential bids originating from Mt Kenya West.
They cited the administrations of Jomo Kenyatta, Mwai Kibaki and Uhuru Kenyatta, as well as their support for Mr Gachagua as President Ruto’s running mate in 2022.
The elders specifically called on Mt Kenya West to support Prof Kindiki, whom they regard as the first senior national leader from Mt Kenya East to occupy the Deputy President’s office.
They also mandated their representatives to engage councils of elders from the western side, including Kiama Kia Maa, with the objective of developing a common position on the political, economic and cultural future of the region.
Elders from Mt Kenya East at Nembure Stadium in Embu County on August 15,2026. Deputy President Kithure Kindiki tasked them to unite Mt Kenya East and West.
Photo credit: George Munene | Nation Media Group
Prof Kindiki’s spokesperson Francis Gachuri confirmed the DP’s invite to the event, and disclosed that “it is purely an elders’ affair and the DP will attend as their guest.”
One of the elders involved in the preparations said the consultations had been largely peaceful despite the increasingly heated political exchanges.
“We have had very successful meetings with our brothers from Kiambu, Murang’a, Nyeri, Kirinyaga, Nyandarua, Laikipia, Nakuru and parts of Nairobi,” the elder said.
He said the elders had agreed that political disagreements should not be allowed to destroy longstanding social and cultural ties.
“The mountain is one, our people are one, our destiny is one. So, no one should incite our people.”
The argument represents the central theme that organisers hope will define tomorrow’s meeting — that political competition should not be allowed to permanently fracture the communities living around Mt Kenya.
Prof Kindiki has himself repeatedly appealed for patience, asking politicians to give elders space to negotiate a settlement.
At the Nembure meeting, he described elders as the “fathers of the land” and said the unity of the Kikuyu, Embu and Ameru communities was not a creation of contemporary politicians but a legacy inherited from previous generations.
He also directly addressed the campaign by Public Service Cabinet Secretary Geoffrey Ruku to split Mt Kenya into East and West.
Prof Kindiki urged Mr Ruku to stop blaming Mt Kenya West before the elders had completed their consultations.
“We should be patient and give our elders a chance to engage in dialogue with their fellow elders from other regions of Mount Kenya,” Prof Kindiki said.
Deputy President Kithure Kindiki at Nembure Stadium in Embu County where he met elders from Mt Kenya East on August 15, 2026.
Photo credit: DPCS
Mr Ruku has, however, linked his willingness to abandon the campaign to recognition of Prof Kindiki as the spokesman of the wider Mt Kenya region by elders from the West.
He has also repeatedly invoked the history of political reciprocity, arguing that Mt Kenya East has supported leaders from the western side for decades and should now receive similar backing for one of its own.
“What I am asking for is simple. Elders from the West should announce that they recognise Prof Kindiki as the Mt Kenya region spokesman and support for President Ruto. After that, I will put my axe back in the store,” Mr Ruku told the Nation.
His remarks followed his repeated threats to literally “split” the mountain if what he regards as the political rights of Mt Kenya East are not recognised.
The language has added urgency to Saturday’s elders’ meeting, even as some leaders from the East insist that their campaign is not intended to sever relations with the West.
Instead, they say, the objective is to establish a new political bargain within the region.
The August 15 resolutions described the principle of political reciprocity as a longstanding feature of Mt Kenya politics and argued that support for Prof Kindiki would preserve the region’s collective bargaining power in national coalition politics.
The elders also endorsed President Ruto's re-election bid, effectively tying their demand for regional unity to the continuation of the Ruto-Kindiki partnership.
The Njuri Ncheke, in a separate declaration issued on August 7, similarly called on the Ameru community to support Prof Kindiki and President Ruto, while insisting that Mt Kenya remained “one and indivisible”.
The declaration said the elders would engage councils from the rest of the mountain and other parts of Kenya to consolidate support for the two leaders ahead of 2027.
Elders from Mt Kenya East at Nembure Stadium in Embu County on August 15,2026.
Photo credit: DPCS
The former Deputy President has maintained that the Ruto administration betrayed Mt Kenya after the political fallout that led to his removal from office in October 2024.
He has also argued that the region should not automatically support President Ruto in 2027 and has sought to mobilise communities around a broader opposition platform.
His political message has resonated particularly around the claim that Mt Kenya was short-changed after overwhelmingly backing the Kenya Kwanza ticket in 2022.
The former Deputy President has been categorical that the elevation of Prof Kindiki will not change his position.
“Appointing another person from Mt Kenya to the Deputy President’s office cannot erase what we regard as the administration’s betrayal of the region.”
The former Deputy President's camp has sought to retain his influence in the region while the Ruto-Kindiki camp has increasingly shifted its mobilisation towards elders, grassroots leaders and development projects.
The elders are also expected to discuss social and economic challenges facing the Mt Kenya region, including rising cases of alcoholism and the proliferation of illicit and substandard alcoholic drinks.
They are expected to press the Government to strengthen enforcement against manufacturers and traders dealing in poisonous alcoholic products.
Political violence is another issue likely to feature prominently, sources told Saturday Nation.
The elders have expressed concern over the increasing use of young people and goons in political confrontations.
