Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua.
Fears of voters turning against current Mt Kenya elected leaders in 2027 polls is at the heart of the plot to isolate Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua and rally behind his 2022 running mate challenger, Interior Cabinet Secretary Prof Kithure Kindiki.
Mr Gachagua has been having a series of political engagements in the region where he has projected himself as the region’s kingpin and Number One defender while labelling his critics as traitors.
On Friday in Nyeri, he once again dismissed politicians from the region who were opposed to his unity call.
The fear is that his messaging has the potential of politically poisoning the region, which could lead to a blood bath similar to the 2022 one where a majority of legislators who sided with then President Uhuru Kenyatta and Azimio presidential candidate Raila Odinga were voted out. To the legislators, this is survival of the fittest three long years before the next election and they have opted to start a fightback before it is too late. Their message to voters is that Mr Gachagua’s hostile stance is blocking the region’s progress.
The broader plan linked to the 2027 elections is also meant to split the region and deny Mr Gachagua the loyalty of a solid Mt Kenya bloc — a crucial bargaining chip whether or not he sticks with President Ruto. The recent move by leaders from Mt Kenya East to isolate themselves is part of the script.
Thursday’s declaration by 48 legislators that they were opposed to the Deputy President was also meant to take the fight to Mr Gachagua’s doorstep. This would distract and keep him busy, fighting political fires at every turn, and countering his aggressive move to consolidate the region.
Experts point to the emergence of strong factions with varied interests that are strategising to control the region ahead of 2027.
"A close look into the political space of Mt Kenya deduces the fact that we have President William Ruto who is desperately trying to work out a 2027 re-election agenda in this region that overwhelmingly voted for him," says Political Scientist Gasper Odhiambo adding that “losing this region throws his re-election into serious jeopardy”.
He adds that "it appears President Ruto had promised some of Mt Kenya leaders the deputy presidency in 2027” but the lingering question would be what happens to Gachagua and how he reacts to any such move.
In the ground tussles, President William Ruto appears to have settled on National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichung'wah to help retain a grip on the region and clip Mr Gachagua’s wings.
Mr Odhiambo said: "Mr Gachagua has proved to be a foresighted political fox who, in trying to resist being discarded, is fighting tooth and nail in uniting the region behind him hence presenting a second centre of power in Mt Kenya. This has obviously attracted opposition."
Mr Ichung'wah, in partnership with Laikipia East MP Mwangi Kiunjuri, have painted the DP as a self-serving politician using blackmail and sabotage to enrich himself and bring the president down. They have claimed their intention is to save the nation, Mt Kenya and the presidency from Mr Gachagua’s schemes.
Mr Odhiambo added that the other wing belongs to former President Kenyatta and his allies, who are seen as stirring things up behind the scenes. There is also the unfinished business of revenging against Dr Ruto, who grabbed the region from Mr Kenyatta’s grasp in 2022. Mr Gachagua has previously apologised to Mr Kenyatta and his family for attacks during the election campaigns and indicated his intention to work with the former President.
Mr Kenyatta has mostly appeared to rely on Jubilee Party Secretary-General Jeremiah Kioni to roll out 2027 related programmes. Mr Kioni has since declared himself as representative of Mt Kenya interests though sometimes saying he is ready to partner with Gachagua, increasing the anxiety in the president’s camp against the second in command.
This has effectively seen the region suffer a spokesman crisis, with President Ruto now expressing a preference for an alternative point man over Mr Gachagua.
Those intrigues, among others, have been behind a series of high-octane politics in the region, with all the camps trying to gain ground through establishment of networks replete with propaganda slogans and declarations that seek an edge in the vote rich Mountain.
Former Gatanga MP Nduati Ngugi, who represents the Kenyatta formation, on Friday told Nation.Africa that "the eruption of the fear within President Ruto's camp happened last month when Gachagua gave them until December to conform and rally behind him as the region's point of reference towards 2027".
Mr Gachagua, while in Kiambu County, warned all those not listening to the ground and speaking the language of the voters, to join him by December or risk being unwanted in 2027.
"The moment he declared that, the Mt Kenya political debate changed and all the camps started restrategising," he said.
He added: "President Ruto’s loyalists had found it hard to impeach Gachagua; our camp had suffered the departure of Raila Odinga to Ruto's camp and Gachagua had started grooming his own team to counter those defying him."
Mr Ngugi said that "what we now have is President Ruto banking on unpredictable Mr Odinga to form a broad-based network to win 2027 and some of our colleagues in Mt Kenya believing that there is hope in that combination. And to remain relevant, they think they have to bring down Mr Gachagua”.
He added that Mr Gachagua and the Uhuru camp appear to be working on a common plan of taking Mt Kenya out of President Ruto's grip. The plan also includes broadening the list of political “friends” by wooing politicians such as Mr Kalonzo Musyoka and Trans Nzoia Governor George Natembeya.
"Mr Gachagua and Mr Kenyatta’s camp are packing themselves in the philosophy of Gen Z demands while Dr Ruto's wing is composed of those who never expressed remorse for supporting the Finance Bill 2024 that ended up being dropped," Mr Ngugi said.
Mr Kiunjuri told Nation.Africa that "Mr Gachagua has pushed people to rebel and isolate him owing to his demeaning tactics, selfishness and demand that his juniors submit to him like children".
But former Laikipia Woman Representative Cate Waruguru told Nation.Africa on Friday that Mr Gachagua is being isolated for not letting Mt Kenya's 2022 voting decision be demeaned, and instead demanding that it be respected and rewarded.
"That is the reason why President Ruto is grouping together politicians who do not believe in one man-one shilling-one vote formula, led by Prof Kindiki, who has since dismissed it as divisive and tribal," she said.
Mr Ichung'wah recently said: "We have Mr Gachagua to blame for the slow implementation of agricultural reforms and enactment of import legislative agenda to help Nyamakima traders gain elastic profit margins."
However, Maragua MP Mary wa Maua defended Mr Gachagua saying, "What is happening is a war between those who have chosen to remain loyal to our communities' unique identity and political culture against those who want us to be controlled and lorded over from State House".
She accused others of trying to take him down. Wa Maua said that DP Gachagua’s roles do not include leading legislative agenda as he does not sit in parliament; he is not a Cabinet Secretary for Agriculture, Trade and Cooperatives “and above all, the functions of a Deputy President, as recorded in the Constitution, do not include finding markets for agricultural produce… Ichung’wah is mischievously delegating his legislative agenda coordination task to Gachagua as a propaganda weapon."
Mbeere North MP Geoffrey Ruku said Tharaka Nithi, Embu and Meru counties decided to 'secede' from the Mt Kenya tag “so that we can have a leader (Prof Kindiki) who can lead us to lobby for development instead of following someone fixated with politics every dawn and every sunset.”
However, Kirinyaga Woman Representative Njeri Maina said the Deputy President’s opponents were running scared because of his growing influence in the Mountain. “It has reached a point where anyone who wants to cut a political deal with Mt Kenya must pass through Mr Gachagua or else forget about it.”
Mr Kioni said the problems being experienced were bred by the fact that Mr Gachagua took the region into President Ruto's coalition without a political party and no negotiations or a written memorandum of understanding.
"That is why our politicians in government want to localise their politics and start negotiating with President Ruto and risk being blackmailed to pawn us to his re-election bid".
Meanwhile, Kikuyu Council of Elders Chairman Wachira Kiago warned that President Ruto was not elected to be praised and worshipped to develop the Mountain region.
"It is our right to be handed unconditional governance benefits commensurate with our needs, hence why we should be spared talks about forming factional caucuses to beg the president to develop our region," he said.
