An internal war has erupted in the Democracy for the Citizens Party (DCP) over how its top leadership, including party leader Rigathi Gachagua and his deputy, Cleophas Malala, are engaging new converts across Mt Kenya counties.
The war is made more vicious by the former President Uhuru Kenyatta-led Jubilee Party, which is also accusing Mr Gachagua of cannibalising it in the same region.
The Jubilee aspirants’ caucus, chaired by former Nyeri Town MP Ngunjiri Wambugu, has written to Mr Kenyatta demanding that the party be independent and take charge of its 2027 agenda instead of integrating with DCP.
After managing a crisis that has seen some former DCP loyalists like Githunguri MP Gathoni Wa Muchomba, Juja MP George Koimburi and Maragua MP Mary Wa Maua rejoin President William Ruto’s United Democratic Alliance (UDA), Kirinyaga Woman Rep Njeri Maina on Thursday launched an onslaught against the DCP leadership.
Kiambu Woman Representative Gathoni Wamuchomba during a Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) event at the BBI secretariat offices on State House Road in Nairobi last year.
Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group
While Wamuchomba and Koimburi had claimed that they were uncomfortable with DCP becoming a highest-bidders’ loyalty contest, Ms Maina accused Mr Malala of running an in-house sabotage cartel seeking to collapse the party.
The bad blood between Mr Malala and Ms Maina came from a Wednesday night meeting the former held with some MCAs from Kirinyaga County in a Murang’a County hotel.
Ms Maina launched a scathing attack against Mr Malala, claiming that the agenda of the meeting was to create a splinter group to fight Mr Gachagua.
She accused Mr Malala of getting a sabotage budget financed by persons who seek to derail the agenda of the people and a united alternative government.
"I am aware that Mr Malala met a section of MCAs allied to Kirinyaga governor Anne Waiguru... I do not know who you work for, nor do I want to speculate. I also do not know what personal vendetta you have with leaders supporting Mr Gachagua in Kirinyaga," she said.
She added that she sought to make it a matter of public record that Mr Malala was reviving suspicions of being a nocturnal saboteur in his political history, warning him of stiff resistance in Kirinyaga County.
"Bring it on; you shall face off with me where the rubber meets the road. In case you forgot, where I come from we milk lions while seated on porcupines. I shall treat you with the contempt you deserve going forward," she warned.
The Democracy for Citizens Party (DCP) Leader Rigathi Gachagua (left) with his Deputy Party Leader Cleophas Malala in Kilifi after the Party Retreat to plan for 2026 Political Calendar on January 19, 2026.
Photo credit: Kevin Odit | Nation Media Group
But in a quick rejoinder, Mr Malala rubbished the claims, saying he was preparing the way for Mr Gachagua’s meeting with the ward leaders.
“It is true that I had a curtain raider engagements with elected members of the county assembly of Kirinyaga ahead of their Thursday meeting with our Party Leader Rigathi Gachagua. We are focused on enhancing political inclusivity as we prepare for the forthcoming General Election. Our agenda is stability, solidity and growth in the spirit of we scatter none but gather all,” Mr Malala told Nation in a response.
DCP head of strategy Dr Peter Mbae defended Mr Malala, saying the Murang’a meeting had the blessings of the party.
Dr Mbae said Mr Gachagua has commissioned his deputy to reach out to as many new disciples as possible, and the Murang’a hotel meeting was in pursuit of the same.
"Let it be known that we have 100 percent faith in Mr Malala as our deputy leader. He met the Kirinyaga MCAs in full knowledge of our party leader," he said.
Dr Mbae added that it is normal for Ms Maina to feel jittery when, as an elected leader, people from her territorial turf engage without her presence.
"It is a normal reaction, but it does not negate the fact that DCP and its leadership are in the business of winning over anyone and anything not in our fold for now. We are treating the conflict as an internal challenge that informs us that we certainly must whip people into the discipline of acts and utterances," he said.
In a show of solidarity with Mr Malala, Gachagua, later on Thursday, hosted at his Wamunyoro Village home the MCAs who had attended the Malala meeting.
They included Jeremiah Makimi (Kariti Ward), Isaiah Mbogo (Kabare), Jinaro Jemumo, who, besides being Mutithi Ward MCA, is also Kirinyaga County Assembly Deputy Speaker, and Timothy Kariuki-Sedi (Njuki-ini).
Others were Thomas Mwangi (Mukure), Fredrick Maina Karimi (Tebere), Geoffrey Murimi (Ki-ine), Peter Njiru-Weche (Wamumu) and James Wambu (Kangai).
Also in the entourage were Mr Kinyua Kawangui (Mutira), Eric Muchina (Kerugoya Town) and Baragwi MCA David Mathenge.
In a post-meeting press statement, Mr Gachagua said the MCAs informed him that they had been instructed by their voters to join the DCP party and to stand as defenders of the Mt Kenya community against those who persecute and oppress them.
Mr Gachagua said the MCAs had, prior to the meeting, resisted a local wave of gatekeepers who had even invited them to a private home for a reconsideration meeting.
United Opposition leaders led by DCP Party Leader Rigathi Gachagua, DAP K's Eugene Wamalwa and Mithika Linturi during a rally in Heshima, Bahati sub-county in Nakuru City on February 28, 2026.
Photo credit: Boniface Mwangi | Nation Media Group
Mr Gachagua said the process of identifying and ejecting all those behaving like moles was in high gear and would spare none considered as such.
"I also encouraged the visiting MCAs to remain steadfast in the face of any intimidation, inducements, or harassment that may follow," he said.
Mr Gachagua also promised them that he will soon execute an intensive three-day tour of Kirinyaga County to drum up support for DCP aspirants.
Mr Gachagua said the period between now and the election date will be very interesting for all formations, where shifting alliances will be key.
Mr Gachagua further separately told Nation that he is seeking to control all Mt Kenya-based county assemblies by winning super-majority loyalty.
He said Kirinyaga is a testament to a successful case where, of the 20 elected MCAs, he has 16 in his camp. He added that he has 10 of the 13 nominated MCAs under his DCP wings.
The DCP's bountiful political harvest in Kirinyaga might soon offer a clearer picture of where the populous Mountain vote is aligned ahead of the 2027 General Election, as Mr Gachagua sustains a ground incursion that is very damaging to those allied in alternative formations.
Mr Gachagua has planned marathon ground meetings in Mt Kenya that will last until May, targeting the consolidation of his position as the region's present and future leader and DCP as the party of choice.
The Kirinyaga rupture in DCP is not a new phenomenon, as the county has remained deeply ingrained in Mr Gachagua's political journey since his October 2024 impeachment as Deputy President, a position he had held for two years.
It was Baragwi MCA David Mathenge who rushed to the Kerugoya High Court and obtained the popular October 18, 2024, conservatory order that barred the swearing-in of Prof Kithure Kindiki, whom President Ruto had picked as the newly appointed Deputy President.
The order was issued by Justice Richard Mwongo. In the courtroom events that unfolded later, the order remains in place to date after the appellate court ruled that it had been lifted on October 31, 2024, by a three-member bench that had been empanelled illegally by Deputy Chief Justice Philemona Mwilu.
This new loyalty shift in Kirinyaga is rated by political pundits as a significant blow to Kirinyaga governor Anne Waiguru, who has been vocal about her suitability to also give the Mt Kenya region its 2027 voting direction.
An upbeat Mr Gachagua told Nation on Thursday that "this is just the beginning of an exodus into DCP in the Mt Kenya region after I successfully laid down the genesis of uniting our people in a single file ahead of 2027."
Mr Gachagua said, "This is the year of reckoning and the ground has emphatically dictated through emerging trends that the Mt Kenya party of choice is DCP."
He said he expects many more public declarations of politicians aligning with DCP ahead of the close of February 2027, when those in both public service with political ambitions are supposed to resign.
"There is no hiding place. The ground has hardened around DCP and Mr Gachagua. We are only reacting to the political coordinates provided by the electorate," he said.
Mr Mathenge added that the Mt Kenya people have pinned their political location, and it is up to the area's political aspirants to find and join them for the 2027 journey.
Ms Waiguru had earlier warned Kirinyaga and Mt Kenya people against following Mr Gachagua, saying the only sure place he can land them is in a ditch.
She said she will not be joining Mr Gachagua's wing, pledging loyalty to the re-election of President Ruto.
"As their proposed presidential aspirant, I gave them a firm undertaking that DCP shall conduct free and fair nominations for all positions," Mr Gachagua said.
"I encourage all our aspirants to step up recruitment of party followers since nominations will be conducted using the members' register," he said.
Mwea MP aspirant Mr Kabinga Wa Thayu, who has decamped from the Jubilee Party to DCP, told Nation that Mr Gachagua had met former loyalists of the Uhuru-led party.
"There is huge ground pressure in the Mt Kenya region demanding that aspirants align with DCP. We are more than 10 high-profile aspirants who have decamped from Jubilee to DCP. It is not a choice we have, but a demand from the ground," he said.
Other notable figures who have ditched the Jubilee Party for DCP include former Water CS Sicily Kariuki, who is interested in the Nyandarua governor's office; Mr Munene Wambugu (Kirinyaga Central), Mr Gichuki Mugambi (Othaya), Mr Gichuhi Mwangi (Tetu) and Mr Anthony Kiai (Mukurweini).
There are also Mr Peter Mwathi (Limuru), Wainaina Jungle (Thika Town), Ms Mercy Gakuya (Kasarani) and Ms Esther Gathogo (Ruiru).
Starehe MP Mr Amos Mwago and East Africa Legislative Assembly member Mr Kanini Kega, both of the Jubilee Party, have since shifted their loyalty to DCP.
