President William Ruto and the politics of Mount Kenya region.
Critics of President William Ruto’s administration in Mt Kenya say the region will not be blackmailed to support the government with threats of being sidelined from State-funded development projects.
The region that overwhelmingly voted for Dr Ruto in his successful 2022 presidential bid started to drift away citing his Kenya Kwanza government’s unpopular policies, particularly against businesses and farming.
This rebellion has gained momentum with the impeachment of Mr Rigathi Gachagua as deputy president in October, which has been interpreted in the region as betrayal, setting up the ruling coalition’s leaders particularly those that voted to impeach him against the residents.
Now, Mr Gachagua’s allies including Nyeri governor Mr Mutahi Kahiga, Senators Joe Nyutu (Murang'a), Kamau Murango (Kirinyaga), Seki Lenku (Kajiado), as well as Kirinyaga Woman Rep Ms Njeri Maina and Manyatta MP Gitonga Mukunji, insist the threats of withholding development won't sway the region.
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And Kibwezi West MP Mwengi Mutuse, who successfully moved the motion to impeach Mr Gachagua, has sparked controversy with the latest admission that the president promised him that Emali-Ukia road will be tarmacked in appreciation as Mau Mau road in Mt Kenya loses out.
Following his ouster, Mr Gachagua announced that he expected the government to use the same speed it exhibited in removing him from office to deliver on its manifesto.
"Let us see the same speed in talking about mama mboga and bodaboda people...Let us see money get with speed into the pockets of farmers," Mr Gachagua said.
Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua during an interview at his Karen home on December 1, 2024.
"There was a time I took a stroll in Nyeri town to hear the people's voices about where Mt Kenya is. My reasoning to them is that we have a stake in this government hence why we need positions and development even after the impeachment was met with outright rejection," Mr Kahiga said.
The governor said those who engaged him were resolute that "the president can take his positions and reward them to people outside Mt Kenya,” adding only time will tell what will become of “this form of bitterness and anger.”
On his part, Mr Nyutu told Nation.Africa the president's loyalists are going around the region scaring people that they will lose out on development projects if they remain hostile to the government.
'Be loyal'
Last weekend, President Ruto's economic advisor Moses Kuria was in Embu County where he implored residents to remain loyal to the government to benefit from development plans.
"The president wants us to engage, keep our relations warm so that we can identify areas of need. We want to bring you development and it can only happen when we are talking to each other," Mr Kuria said.
It is in Embu, where weeks ago residents booed and jeered the president but wildly cheered former President Kenyatta and Mr Gachagua.
Mr Nyutu wondered why development would be tied to the region’s loyalty to the government yet Mr Gachagua had been impeached on accusation of saying the region would reap big for overwhelmingly voting for the Kenya Kwanza administration.
"But we are now seeing a situation whereby the president after he sponsored Gachagua impeachment on grounds of being divisive through shareholding comments is now demanding loyalty as a means to win development from his administration," Mr Nyutu said.
Mr Joe Nyutu.
Obligated
Mr Mukunji said President Ruto has no choice but to develop Mt Kenya like the rest of the country without attaching loyalty conditions.
"We are the ones who put this government in power. We in Mt Kenya are the government. There is no way anyone can tell us that we are not in government. Development must come without conditions. It is only in 2027 that we will abandon this government," Mr Mukunji said.
The Kajiado Senator told Nation. Africa the government should not demand loyalty from the people but win over citizens through good governance practices that transform lives.
"The government should not tie development and loyalty. It should strive to give us evidence that we should one more time trust it in 2027. Going round scaring people that there will be no development unless the government is praised is deceit," Mr Lenku said.
Mr Murango claimed that the president has adopted a shareholding narrative that is even more dangerous than the one Mr Gachagua was accused of.
"The president is sacking Mr Gachagua's loyalists and replacing them with his own loyalists. He is telling us that loyalty is more important than votes," he said.
"That is the reason he is sacking people from Mt Kenya and replacing them with those from the same region because he wants to rule with submissive people who can lead us into unquestionable submission to him.
Ms Maina said the president’s camp “is just paranoid over the influence that Gachagua is wielding in the mountain.”
Ms Daisy Naneu of the Kenya Grassroots Network Alliance (Kenga) told Nation.Africa that government demanding loyalty from citizens in exchange for development is blackmail.
"We have heard President Ruto's supporters all over insinuating that supporting Gachagua means losing development, whereas supporting President Ruto delivers development," Ms Naneu said.
Ms Naneu said "development as a reward for loyalty but not a right bares President Ruto's brand of politics that seeks to transform the executive into some sort of a deity that rewards worship.”
'Bigger picture'
However, Mbeere North MP Geoffrey Ruku said Tharaka Nithi, Embu and Meru counties decided to 'secede' from the larger Mt Kenya "so that (Deputy President) Kindiki can lead us to lobby for development instead of following someone (Gachagua) who is fixated with politics.”
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Mr Ruku said what is important is how to secure mega projects for now and leave politics to 2027.
Kikuyu Council of elders Chairman Mr Wachira Kiago said while loyalty is demanded of cabinet secretaries and advisors, it does not apply to the people.
"Voting is the first expression of loyalty to a manifesto. After voting and winning, the duty of a government becomes that of governance. Telling people to be loyal to you in exchange for development is not proper," Mr Kiago said.
Political analyst Gasper Odhiambo insisted that "when campaigns set in, incumbents use development as an enticement weapon.”
Mr Odhiambo said Mt Kenya has a right to feel angry that the government in place is their own making but those who walked the journey of installing President Ruto into power are getting sidelined.
“Even if I were a Mt Kenya voter, I would go to the ballot in 2027 to punish that kind of deceit,” he added.
