As he enjoys rising political influence across Mt Kenya, Nyandarua Senator John Methu says the defining moment of his political career came in October 2024 when he had to choose between remaining loyal to President William Ruto or following Rigathi Gachagua into political uncertainty.
It was the period when Mr Gachagua was being pushed out of office through impeachment after serving two years as Deputy President.
At the time, Mr Methu enjoyed unlimited access to State House. He recalls that he never needed an appointment to see President Ruto and was occasionally included in presidential delegations travelling abroad on short notice.
“As long as he (Ruto) was at State House, all I needed do was to show up and I would be ushered in. Sometimes I found him preparing to travel and he would simply ask me to join the entourage. He would even give me money to buy clothes for the emergency trip. It was exciting while it lasted,” Methu recalls.
Nyandarua County Senator John Methu speaks during the official unveiling of DCP party’s elected members to the County Assembly at the DCP headquarters in Nairobi on December 3, 2025.
Photo credit: Bonface Bogita | Nation Media Group
Then came Gachagua’s impeachment and with it, Mr Methu himself at a political crossroads.
The senator says he had to choose between the comforts and influence that came with proximity to power or following an impeached Deputy President whose political future appeared bleak.
For three days, Mr Methu stepped back to reflect on his next move.
Mr Methu says he weighed his close relationship with President Ruto against what he describes as overwhelming opposition to Mr Gachagua's impeachment among Mt Kenya voters.
In the end, he concluded that his political survival depended on listening to the people who had elected him.
“I visualised a people in Nyandarua who mercifully voted for me since I was a poor aspirant. I saw political injustice meted on Gachagua and remembered how Mt Kenya people abhors betrayal. It is then I realised my desire for long-term political achievements rather than short-lived gain. I knew I had to follow my people,” he said.
Senator Methu says senior figures allied to President Ruto made spirited efforts to persuade him to abandon Mr Gachagua, but he insists the political mood on the ground had already shifted.
According to the senator, many residents of Mt Kenya region viewed the former Deputy President less as a fallen politician than as a martyr punished for defending the region's interests.
That conviction was reinforced when Mr Methu visited Mr Gachagua at his Nairobi residence shortly after the impeachment.
Rather than finding a defeated politician, Mr Methu says, he encountered a calm and determined leader who had already begun planning his political comeback.
Democracy for the Citizens Party (DCP) leader Rigathi Gachagua.
Photo credit: Bonface Bogita | Nation Media Group
He says Mr Gachagua admitted regretting his role in helping President Ruto win the presidency and declared himself prepared to sacrifice everything in pursuit of what he believed was a political correction.
The meeting, Mr Methu says, transformed their relationship.
“I realised I had found a mentor. He is bold, calculative and daring. He warned me that many people would abandon the struggle and return to President Ruto, but he believed the journey was doable. I decided to stick with him,” Mr Methu said.
From then on, Mr Methu became one of Mr Gachagua's closest political allies, their relationship strengthening as they traversed the country together in the months that followed.
Looking back, he says he has never regretted the decision.
Braving hostile crowds, alleged intimidation by rogue security officers, court battles and repeated claims that the State would sponsor opponents against him in Nyandarua, Mr Methu says he remained convinced he had chosen the right side of history.
Mt Kenya's most influential politicians
“Only God Himself could have convinced me to return to President Ruto's side. It was obvious the political ground was moving away from the government, and only a fool wouldn’t see that Mr Gachagua was at the same time rising rapidly in the national political discourse,” he says.
As interim Secretary-General of the Democracy for Citizens Party (DCP), Mr Methu played a central role in coordinating the Ol Kalou parliamentary by-election campaign alongside Kipipiri MP Wanjiku Muhia.
Their candidate, Kamau Ngotho, defeated the government-backed Muchina Nyagah by nearly 30,000 votes, a victory that significantly elevated both Mr Gachagua's political standing and Mr Methu's reputation as one of the architects of the campaign.
DCP candidate Sammy Waweru Ngotho displays his certificate after being decaled the winner of the Ol Kalou parliamentary by-election on July 17, 2026.
Photo credit: Boniface Mwangi | Nation Media Group
The win also reinforced Mr Gachagua's political resurgence less than two years after many had predicted his impeachment would end his career.
Today, Kikuyu Council of Elders chairman Wachira Kiago ranks Methu among Mt Kenya's five most influential politicians, placing him second only to Mr Gachagua.
“Currently we have Mr Gachagua, Uhuru Kenyatta , Kalonzo Musyoka , Deputy President Kithure Kindiki and Methu to decide among themselves their order of influence. But if you asked me, Mr Methu currently rates at number two after Mr Gachagua,” he said.
Political analyst Simon Wang'ombe says Mr Methu has succeeded where several once-promising Mt Kenya politicians struggled, converting regional popularity into sustained political influence.
“We had fast rising stars like Amos Kimunya in Nyandarua County, Peter Kenneth from Murang’a, Martha Karua in Kirinyaga, Wangari Maathai in Nyeri… and those others who today are sitting on the fence despite showing promise in 2022… Mr Methu’s fortunes appear to have since broken even,” Mr Wang’ombe opines.
Methu says his desired reward out of all his efforts is rediscovering the Mt Kenya identity in politics and seeing a Kenya united in peace and prosperity.
“Just like Mr Gachagua has repeatedly declared, I will be the last person to sabotage the ‘Wantam’ agenda. The liberation of this country has become so urgent, to a point it will be sinning against God to let the people of Kenya down. Just like my boss Mr Gachagua states, I am ready also to lose my life and property for the just cause of Kenya,” he said.
“I now have about 125 formal requests by our DCP aspirants to show up in their competition boundaries to campaign for them. I will not let them down. But they must first get through party primaries,” he said.
Nyandarua Senator John Methu addresses journalists at the DCP headquarters in Nairobi on May 25, 2026.
Photo credit: Billy Ogada | Nation Media Group
Born on February 14, 1991, in Kinangop Constituency of Nyandarua County, Mr Methu began his education at Heni Primary School in 1999 and completed his Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) in 2006.
He later enrolled at Goshen High School in Nakuru County in 2008, where he sat his Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) in 2012.
Thereafter, he joined Pwani University in 2013, where he pursued a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science until 2017.
The Senator says university life made him develop a keen interest in governance, leadership, and public policy.
In 2017, he unsuccessfully vied for Nyandarua Senate seat on a Maendeleo Chap Chap ticket. He was subsequently appointed personal secretary to the Speaker of the Nyandarua County Assembly in 2018.
He held that position until 2022 when he vied for the Senate seat on the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) ticket and won to become the youngest senator ever elected in Kenya at the age of 31.
In the Senate, he served as chairman of the Lands, Environment, and Natural Resources Committee before he was ousted for standing with Mr Gachagua.
